She's Not That Into You
by Seymour Butz
Summary: The long awaited fifth defining installment in the saga that was spawned from "Cold Hard Cash" finds Jeanette has grown considerably in both her personal and professional life. Her friend Roberta, on the other hand, hasn't, and fears Jeanette may be losing interest in her as a result.
1. Drifting

**A/N: For quick reference, here are links to the previous installments of the saga:**

 **-"Cold Hard Cash" (May 17, 2009) s/5067183/1/Cold-Hard-Cash**

 **-"Tina: The Untold Story" (Mar 21, 2010) s/5832803/1/Tina-The-Untold-Story**

 **-"Two Steps Forward, One Step Backward" (Apr 6, 2011) s/6881527/1/Two-Steps-Forward-One-Step-Backward**

 **-"It's Not Over Yet" (May 23, 2013) s/9128470/1/It-s-Not-Over-Yet**

She's Just Not Into You Chapter 1: Drifting

It had been three years since Jeanette found herself in a relationship with her best friend, Roberta, an equally shy and equally literate chipmunk, and alot had changed in those three years. The two were coworkers at the bookstore for the longest time, however, after sme time had past, Jeanette felt like she needed to grow and contribute something to the world. After some looking, she found something that sound interesting to her. One of the local news outlets was looking for a new photojournalist and videographer. After a couple of interviews and other standard procedures, Jeanette got the job, so she turned in her notice at the bookstore, and soon found herself out covering a variety of different stories, ranging from hard news and current events to more local interest. On these assignments, Jeanette found herself behind the camera, videoing persons, places, and things for television segments and internet content, while also taking still shots of her subjects for print material. Having a better job with better pay, Jeanette and Roberta were able to pull their resources and eventually relocate to a nicer and roomier apartment. All the while, Roberta was certainly proud that Jeanette was moving up in the world in terms of her living and career, but she was sensing something of a strain between them. Roberta still worked at the bookstore, so that meant they saw less of each other during the day, meanwhile Jeanette's job didn't always have regular hours, and in many cases, she may have to leave for work early or come home late, depending how much goes on during the week. At times, the irregular hours did take a small toll on Jeanette, who did miss having a regular schedule of her days, but she felt she was making herself more useful by being a part of a newsteam rather than working customer service in a bookstore. Certain weeks Jeanette found herself working extra long hours each day, and it would surly drain her of her energy. She just finished another one these heavy weeks after she and the rest of the team finished covering a story about a scandal rocking a local university involving a professor accepting bribes from students' families in exchange for overlooking poor grades on exams. It was another Friday, and Roberta had been home for quite awhile, wallowing around the tiny apartment they shared all by herself. Finally around 8:30 Jeanette returned home.

"Welcome home!" Roberta greeted Jeanette.

"Thanks." Jeanette said, as she tossed her purse aside and exhaled loudly.

"Another late night I see." Roberta pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Jeanette said, "but this was sweep week, so there was alot more stuff they wanted us to cover, especially around town stuff. That story we did on Mulligan's Fish Stew restaurant's 100th anniversary kept me out there for three hours."

"Yeah, but you took some great footage!" Roberta said, "I loved the slow pans you did on the restuarant's exterior, gave it such a nostalgic feeling."

"Thanks," Jeanette said, "I'm going to hop in the shower, relax for a moment, then go to bed."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Roberta asked.

"What?" Jeanette asked.

"It's Friday night." Roberta pointed out.

"Yes, it certainly is." Jeanette agreed.

"Friday night is always 'our night.'" Roberta reminded her.

Jeanette tilted her head to the side, "I'm sorry Roberta, I'm just too tired, I had a really long and gruling week."

Roberta didn't say anything as Jeanette walked into the bathroom to take a shower. Roberta was feeling emotionally frustrated, as she and Jeanette typically made Friday nights their one night a week for intimacy, however being turned down for that bit of physical contact had knocked Roberta down a few pegs. Later that evening the two girls were in bed, Jeanette had already fallen into a sound sleep while Roberta sat up reading. Roberta glanced over at the sleeping Jeanette and sighed. Roberta set her book aside, leaned back into her piled up pillow, and stared into space. She was sensing that their relationship was falling apart. In her own perspective, she saw Jeanette as losing interest in her. When they got together, Roberta studied relationship advice from different sources, determined to keep their's strong and long term after losing a previous lover, which was something that Roberta didn't want to happen with Jeanette. One piece of advice that Roberta read was free conversation should be observed on a daily basis, conversation that had nothing to do with work, stress, issues, or anything of that nature, but Roberta had noticed that Jeanette wasn't as conversive as she once was. Another piece of advice Roberta read was to make keep physical contact as regular as possible, though Roberta embraced Jeanette on a daily basis, Jeanette's return gestures. didn't feel as affectionate. Yet another piece of advice that Roberta read was that sex should be had on a weekly basis, which is why Friday night was always their night for it, but Jeanette had passed over on it three nights within the past couple of months. Roberta was feeling like she was failing in some area, but didn't know where and why. After a few moments, Roberta finally turned off her lamp and rolled over in bed. She wished she knew what she could do to respark the romance between her and Jeanette, but was at a loss of what to do. The following morning, the two chipettes sat at the dining table eating the omlettes that Roberta had cooked for them. Even during breakfast, conversations were deminishing.

"How's your omlette?" Roberta asked in an attempt to get a conversation started.

"Delicious as always." Jeanette said, without looking up.

The conversation stopped, so Roberta tried to start it up again.

"Can you believe how high egg prices are now?" Roberta asked. "A dozen of large are almost four dollars now!"

"When I was little," Jeanette began, "I remember how Miss Miller would tell us about how upsetting it was that eggs jumped over 25 cents a dozen."

"I'd gladly pay 25 cents for a dozen!" Roberta said.

"Yeah." Jeanette said, as she resumed eating her omlette.

That was the most conversation the two had over breakfast in the longest time. Shortly after breakfast, Jeanette took to her computer and went over the photos she shot during the week. Roberta decided it was time that she look into way of trying to revive her relationship with Jeanette, and decided she was going to do tackle the problem.

"I'm going over to the bookstore." Roberta said as she prepared to leave.

"You're going to work on a Saturday?" Jeanette asked. "I didn't know that."

"What?" Roberta asked. "I can't just go to the bookstore because I want to?"

"Sure you can," Jeanette said, "do whatever you want to do."

Roberta silently sighed through her nose and left. Later, Roberta went to the relationship section and grabbed a few books she could find on mending, repairing, and strengthening relationships. Roberta spread them out on a table, and glanced at the first chapters of each of them. A jerk who was loitering in the bookstore saw this.

"Relationship problems?" The jerk asked.

"Mind your own business." Roberta said.

"I bet if I was in your life, you wouldn't have any problems." The jerk said, in a painful attempt to hit on her.

"Look," Roberta broke away from her books, "I'm gay, okay? So if you think you're wanting me to have a shot at using your joystick, I'll break it! Got it?"

The jerk smirked and walked away. Roberta went back to going through the books she had. She finally settled on one specific book that seemed to best describe the problem head on in its opening chapter. The book was titled "The Honeymoon is Over...Or is it?" The first chapter mentioned there are often cases where after a new relationship has had time to stablize that couples may find themselves becoming bored with one another. Roberta felt this was exactly the problem, that Jeanette was becoming bored with her. Roberta bought the book and sat in her car for a moment to continue reading the first chapter. It suggested that it would be beneficial if the couple began taking up each other's interests and hobbies to give them more things that they can do together. It suddenly made sense to Roberta, as she and Jeanette share many similar hobbies and interests, and that probably was why things seemed boring. Roberta tried to think of an interest of Jeanette's that she hadn't taken much notice of, but found it difficult because they share so many similar interests. Roberta did happen to think that since Jeanette started her new job, she had a growing interest in photography. An hour later, Roberta returned home, finding Jeanette was still going through the photos she took for work during the week.

"Jeanette?" Roberta asked.

"Yeah?" Jeanette responded.

"I had a thought," Roberta said, "don't you have an extra memory card your not using?"

"I think so," Jeanette said, "they were on sale, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and get an extra one in case."

"Just what I was thinking!" Roberta said. "How about a change of pace? How about a day of photographing things other than the latest hot scoop? Urban landscapes? Wildlife? Beautiful scenery?"

"That does sound nice," Jeanette said, "I wish I had the time to do something like that."

"You do," Roberta said, "come on, why don't we go out and see where the day takes us?"

"I suppose so," Jeanette said, "I could use a little relaxtion!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Roberta asked. "Let's go!"

"Very well." Jeanette said, as she closed her laptop. "I think a nice trip through the mountains might just turn into a nice little photo-op."

Jeanette grabbed her camera, and slipped in her extra memory card. Roberta filled a couple of packs for them with refreshments for them to carry with them through wherever they decide to go. With camera and tripod in hand, Jeanette was ready for a day of capturing the prettier side of the world rather than the hard and gritty. And Roberta was looking forward to spending a day doing something with Jeanette. After piling up in the car, they drove off, trying to decide where they would like to go.


	2. Unbonding

She's Just Not Into You Chapter 2: Unbonding

After a long drove from civilization, Jeanette and Roberta found themselves up in the mountains above Los Angeles. They got parked at a visitors center, and Jeanette hung her camera around her neck, anticipating a relaxing day of photographing the wonders of mother nature as opposed to news coverage. Roberta anticipated an opportunity that this would allow them to bond again as she carried Jeanette's tripod like a golfer's caddy. After hiking along a dirt trail for awhile, Jeanette was astounded at finding an incredibly large amount of fungus growing along the underside of an overturned tree, the mushrooms was about half the size of both her and Roberta.

"Can you believe the size of these mushrooms?" Jeanette asked, as she focuses her camera.

"That certainly is some tall toadstool alright!" Roberta joked.

Jeanette knelt down and snapped a couple of shots, and in doing so, she noticed on the upperside of the tree a small lizard resting on the trunk. Jeanette stood up, quietly moved in closer to get a good shot of the lizard. After she snapped the camera, the startled lizard scurried under the tree and into a pile of leaves.

"Somebody seems a little camera shy, don't they?" Roberta asked.

"Yeah, but look at the detail I was able to get!" Jeanette said, as she showed Roberta the shot she snapped, which was so clear that one could see all of the individual scales on the lizard.

"Incredible!" Roberta said. "You have a great eye, Jeanette!"

"Come on, let's go!" Jeanette said as she and Roberta resumed their hike.

After more time had passed, the two came into a large clearing, giving them a sweeping view of the surrounding mountains around them.

"This is amazing!" Roberta said.

"No kidding!" Jeanette said.

The two scaled a smaller hill off to the side, giving them a better view of the surrounding mountains and ridges, of which Jeanette began taking a number of wide angle shots. Still wanting the chance to bond, Roberta decided to put herself into Jeanette's attention after she finished shooting the mountains.

"You know what?" Roberta asked.

"What?" Jeanette asked.

"I really think it's time I changed my profile picture on Facebook..." Roberta said.

"Oh, I can take a good picture of you!" Jeanette offered.

Roberta smiled. "Great!"

Jeanette pointed out a large rock they were close to. "Have a seat, I can get a good shot of you with the mountains in the background, that'll make for a great picture."

"Oh boy, my first professional photoshoot!" Roberta joked, as she sat atop the large rock, removing her hat, and straightening up her hair.

Jeanette moved in on Roberta, and framed her shot, but it wasn't to her satisfactory as she let out an audible hum.

"What's wrong?" Roberta asked.

"This angle," Jeanette said, looking through her camera, "with sun coming in behind you, it puts you in a silohuette."

"That's not good." Roberta said.

"No, it's not," Jeanette said, "let's try it from the opposite direction, I think this angle would provide a better shot anyway. Looking down the hill behind us with the mountains in the back, you'll look like you're on top of the world!"

"How romantic!" Roberta said, before quickly changing her choice of words, "I mean, how spectular!"

Roberta shifted her position atop the rock to face the opposite direction, while Jeanette circled around to get the shot. Jeanette focused her camera, but found another problem with the shot, which didn't go unoticed by Roberta.

"What's wrong now?" Roberta asked.

"Now with the sun shining directly on you," Jeanette said, "you're washed out, you're all white. I need to adjust the exposure in a way that we can see you, but without darkening the surroundings too much."

Jeanette adjusted the exposure on her camera, while Roberta quietly sighed from her patience being tested. Finally, Jeanette brought her exposure down to a desired level.

"I think that'll do it," Jeanette said, focusing the camera, "oh, this is going to be a beautiful shot!"

Roberta smiled. Just as Jeanette was about to snap the shot, she noticed what looked like something moving back in the distance. She peered over the camera to get a better look at what it was.

"Now what?" Roberta moaned, growing more impatient.

"There's something out there..." Jeanette said. She ventured out to the edge of the hill and peered out into the wilderness. "Robbie! Look!"

"What is it?" Roberta asked, peering over her shoulder.

"A moose!" Jeanette said, pointing out a large moose that was slowly making its way through the thicket, grazing on the leaves of the bushes it was passing.

Roberta took notice of the moose Jeanette had pointed out, while Jeanette slowly crept down the hill. "Where are you going?"

Jeanette lowered her voice, "I'd love to get some shots of the moose."

Jeanette quietly made her way down the hill, while Roberta rolled her eyes, "so much for my photo session," she mumbled.

Once Jeanette made it to the foot of the hill, she was only several yards away from where the moose was grazing. Readjusting the exposure of her camera down in the more shaded area, she zoomed in and snapped a shot, but wanted a better shot. Not wanting to spook the moose, she quietly inched closer. The moose took notice of the chipette, so she paused in her tracks, not wanting to make any sudden moves. The moose went back to grazing, so Jeanette inched closer. She wanted to get just close enough to take a decent clear shot of the moose without zooming in and distorting the quality. She picked up her pace a little when she saw the moose began shifting the direction of its grazing, but without looking, she tripped over and large tree root protruding out of the ground. Her exclamation of shock as well as the sound of her tripping startled the moose as it took off into the woods. Up on the hill, Roberta shook her head. Grabbing the tripod, she descended the hill to meet up with Jeanette, who picked herself off the ground, observing her camera to make sure she didn't damage it.

"You okay?" Roberta asked.

"Yeah," Jeanette said, "been a long time since I had a big trip like that. I didn't mean to scare that moose away. I was hoping to get some wildlife shots."

"Tough luck." Roberta said.

"Uh, where were we?" Jeanette asked, forgetting that she was previously trying to take a shot of Roberta.

"We were continuing with our hike." Roberta said dejectedly, as she lead the way.

The two chipettes continued with their hike through the mountains until the sun began to set. Knowing they were running out of daylight, they decided to return to the rest area and call it a night. During the day, in addition to the mountain scenery, fungus, lizard, and moose, Jeanette had managed to get some shots of a pair of deers drinking at a creak, an eagle soaring overhead, a pair of snails on a large leaf, and part of a rainbow she spotted in the clouds. Making their way back down the trail, Roberta hoped that trip had bonded them, as she offered Jeanette some suggestions on her new hobby.

"You know what you ought to do?" Roberta asked. "Start selling your photos."

"Sell them?" Jeanette asked.

"Yeah," Roberta continued, "start a portfolio for yourself, catalogue your work, sell them on Shutterstock or something like that."

"Hmm," Jeanette responded, "that would be a nice way to bring in a little extra income on the side."

"You could turn your hobby into a second career." Roberta suggested.

"I suppose I could." Jeanette said. After walking a little more, Jeanette stopped. "Let me have the tripod."

"Here you go." Roberta said, handing the tripod to her.

Jeanette setup the tripod and fixed the camera to it.

"See another tree that looks it has personality?" Roberta asked.

"No," Jeanette said, setting the timer, "we need to document our trip!"

Roberta quickly smiled, as Jeanette motioned her into position. Jeanette then dashed over next to Roberta, and the two wrapped their arms around each other, the first physical contact they shared in a long time. They smiled as the timer ticked away. The ground wasn't very level, and the tripod was off balance, just before the shot was about to be snapped, the tripod started leaning forward. "No!" Jeanette shrieked, but it was too late, the tripod toppled over and the camera smashed onto the ground. Jeanette dashed over to her wrecked camera, scooping it up and observing it. It was damaged goods. The lens was cracked, and the view screen was blackened. Roberta gritted her teeth, not saying anything about being disappointed not to get her picture taken at all, as Jeanette stressed over her camera.

"Oh, gee, it's broken!" Jeanette said. "It's not working at all!"

"You still got the memory card, don't you?" Roberta asked.

"Yeah," Jeanette said, "but my camera's busted, I can't use it!"

"Don't you still have warranty?" Roberta asked.

"I don't think so," Jeanette said, "I've had it for a couple of years, and the warranty was only good for one."

"Maybe you can get it fixed." Roberta suggested.

"It'd probably cost more to fix it than it would to get a new one." Jeanette sighed.

"Well, get a new one." Roberta said.

Jeanette sadly nodded. "I guess I will sometime when we don't have a bunch of bills to pay."

Jeanette grabbed her tripod and replaced it in its bag as she and Roberta pressed onward for their car at the rest stop. 


	3. Mall Munks

She's Just Not Into You Chapter 3: Mall Munks

Another week came and went, and just like much of the previous ones, any contact between Jeanette and Roberta, both verbal and physical, was minimal. After spending a weekend trying to bond over photography, Roberta felt that her attempts to revitalize the romance between her and Jeanette wasn't off to a particularly good start. Now that sweeps was over and things were quieting down at the station, Jeanette had a much lighter week that brought her home at decent hours each night, allowing her to catch up on a little extra rest, deminishing her fatigue. When Friday night came again, Roberta waited to see if Jeanette would mention anything about their time of intimacy, which she didn't. They went out for a quick dinner, came home to watch a little TV, unwind, and go to bed. Roberta was getting really fed up with it all. As the two got ready for bed, it suddenly struck Jeanette that it was their night of intimacy. Jeanette quietly sighed as she stopped buttoning her pajamas, and turned to face Roberta, allowing her pajama top to open freely.

"Roberta?" Jeanette asked.

"Yeah?" Roberta said, as she pulled the covers back and crawled into bed.

"It is Friday night," Jeanette said, "you know what that means?"

Finally, Roberta thought to herself. The sight of Jeanette's pajamas being unbuttoned and seeing a glimpse of her bare chest was exciting her, and she was so anxious for sex again. But, Roberta felt like turning the tables. Jeanette had been denying her intimacy for awhile, so Roberta decided to return the favor, just to see how she would react.

"Oh, not tonight, Jeanette, I'm just not up to it, and I've got a headache." Roberta lied.

"Oh, okay." Jeanette said, as she quickly buttoned up her pajamas, placed her glasses on her night table, crawled into bed, and rolled over to go to sleep.

Roberta couldn't believe what she just watched. Jeanette wasn't the least bit disapointed or fazed that Roberta turned down a chance for imtimacy. Roberta hopped out of bed, grabbed her pillow and a spare blanket from the closet and stormed out of the bedroom, deciding she'll spend a night on the sofa. It had become even more clear to her that Jeanette was losing interest in her. Roberta turned on the light next to the sofa and pulled out her book. The method presented in the first chapter in trying to bring the couple back together by taking up each other's interests and hobbies didn't work out quite so well. The trip through the moutains the past weekend was enjoyable, but it was clear that while Roberta had intentions of trying to bond with Jeanette, Jeanette's intentions were set on homing her photography skills. Roberta remembered one problem was that she and Jeanette shared so many similar interests, no wonder Jeanette seems bored. She moved onto the second chatper. It suggested that another problem that could be playing a factor in the couple losing interest in one another is a carelessness in maintaining one's self, resulting in a loss of attraction. Roberta could see that as major factor. Since becoming part of a news team, Jeanette had begun making herself more presentable, dressing and appearing more professional than when she used to work in the bookstore. Roberta, on the other hand, was still dressing in the same fashion she had for years, her style hadn't changed at all. She decided that it was time she gave herself something of a makeover, in hope of making herself appear more attractive to Jeanette.

The next morning, Jeanette got out of bed and got dressed, but was concerned to find that Roberta wasn't in bed and was instead sleeping on the sofa.

"Roberta?" Jeanette asked as she walked over to the sofa. "Robbie?"

Roberta felt a hand nudging her shoulder and woke up. "What? What?"

"What are you doing sleeping on the sofa?" Jeanette asked.

"Oh. Oh. I was... you were... I... I couldn't sleep, you -uh- you wouldn't... stop snoring last night." Roberta lied.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jeanette apologized, "it's just that I've really been catching up on some good sleep lately, I guess I've been sleeping harder and deeper than normal."

Roberta was a tad drowsy from a poor night's sleep on the sofa, so Jeanette offered to make breakfast instead for a change.

"How are your pancakes?" Jeanette asked.

"Well, they're not as black," Roberta said, "so you've definitely improved a little."

After the two finished breakfast, Jeanette was ready to carry on with her day.

"You weren't planning anything today, were you?" Jeanette asked.

Roberta was intrigued by this question. "No. Why?"

"I thought I would go around and price-compare cameras," Jeanette said, "unless you had somewhere you wanted to go or something you wanted to do today."

"Oh, no, not at all," Roberta said, "you go on, hope you can find something you like."

"You don't want to come?" Jeanette asked.

Roberta let that sink in for a moment before she smiled. "Of course I want to come!"

Jeanette and Roberta embarked on a trip from store to store throughout town, doing price comparisons of their cameras. Jeanette had a pretty good idea of what she'd like to have in a new camera, though most places she looked wanted upwards of hundreds and hundreds of dollars for the kind of camera she wanted. Roberta suggested she settle for a simple camera that was under the hundred dollar range, but Jeanette wanted professional quality, and not something cheap and simple, especially since she really had begun to consider expanding her photography work and build up a portfolio for herself. After visiting half a dozen different big box stores in town, the cheapest price Jeanette had found for the camera she wanted was $495. Before taking that into consideration, Jeanette and Roberta made a pitstop at the mall to see what kind of prices they had. Looking in their camera shop, Jeanette found a very similar camera to what she was looking at that was around two hundred dollars, and was about to be put up for sale for over one hundred. Jeanette decided it's what she would settle with her next paycheck.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Roberta asked.

"Not really," Jeanette said, "but it's close enough, and it's a reasonable price, so I can settle for that."

As Jeanette and Roberta left the camera shot, Jeanette heard a familar voice call out her name. Looking around, she spotted her sister, Eleanor, leaving a sporting good store, calling and waving out to her. Jeanette dashed over to her sister where the two immediately embraced each other.

"Oh my god," Jeanette said, "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I know," Eleanor agreed, "it has been a long time!"

"You are doing?" Jeanette asked.

"My stuff is just shredded," Eleanor admitted, "so I figured it was time I got some new stuff. I grabbed a duffle bag, some new socks, training clothes, things like that."

"So how's everything working out for you?" Jeanette asked.

"I didn't make it to the Women's World Cup this year," Eleanor joked, "but maybe next time!"

Roberta caught up to the sisters.

"Hey, Roberta!" Eleanor greeted her.

"Nice to see you again, Eleanor!" Roberta said.

"What are you two up to?" Eleanor asked.

"Pricing." Jeanette said. "I had a really nice camera that accidentally got damaged, so we've been looking all over town for a new camera at a decent price."

"I see." Eleanor said. "Say, have you two had lunch yet?"

"Not a bite," Roberta quickly chimed in, "and I'm starving!"

"Why don't we all head over to the food court for a bite?" Eleanor suggested. "It'd let us catch up with each other!"

"Great!" Jeanette said.

Some time later, the three sat at a table in the food court. Roberta's plated of chow mein was empty, while both Jeanette and Eleanor's were still relatively full, as they spent much of the past half hour catching up with each other and reminscing about old times. While Roberta understood that Jeanette hadn't seen her sister in a number of years and wanted to catch up with her, she was feeling virtually invisible.

"What do you think of what Brittany's been doing?" Eleanor asked.

"I've played her BMX CD so many times our stereo won't even play it anymore!" Jeanette said.

"I know, it was great," Eleanor said, "I just can't stand how low she's stooped recently."

"Well, Brittany's always been one for publicity, so it doesn't really surprise me." Jeanette said.

"I'm not surprised," Eleanor said, "I just wish she didn't have to go all Miley Cyrus on us."

"Brittany will do anything for attention," Jeanette said, "and she likes to try to crush the competetion.

As Jeanette and Eleanor continued to discuss how Brittany had been over sexualizing herself for her solo act, Roberta grabbed her tray and rose from the table.

"Where are you going, Roberta?" Eleanor asked.

"Well, I was finished with my lunch, and I didn't want to disturb your catching up." Roberta said.

"You're not disturbing us." Eleanor said.

"Don't worry about it," Roberta said, "you two keep catching up with each other, I'm just going to wander around and browse a little."

"I'll give you a buzz when we're finished." Jeanette said.

"Okay." Roberta said before walking over to a trashcan to dispose of her garbage, and wandering away.

"How have you two been working out?" Eleanor asked once Roberta left.

Jeanette sighed. "I really don't know how much longer than can go on, El."

"What's wrong?" Eleanor asked.

Jeanette sighed again. "Don't get me wrong, I do love Roberta, she's my best friend, she's very loyal and supportive... but... I just don't love her as much as she loves me. I'm not in love with her."

"I wondered." Eleanor admitted.

"And truth be told," Jeanette continued, "I'm about to suffocate, Ellie. She's incredibly clingy, and she just latches on to me all the time, I'm being smothered!"

"Really?" Eleanor asked.

"She does really nice things for me all the time," Jeanette continued, "she cooks for me all the time..."

"I taught her how!" Eleanor boasted.

"And she does help me in many ways," Jeanette said, "in terms of my career, and my hobbies, and such. But I just can't love her as anything more than my friend."

"If it isn't working out," Eleanor said, "maybe you should try talking to her about it."

Jeanette quickly shook her head. "No. I couldn't do that. You have no idea how incredibly soft and sensitive she is, she's very prone to depression. If I tried to tell her anything, who know what she'd do. She used to be a drug addict, you know?"

"No, I didn't." Eleanor siad.

"Yeah." Jeanette said. "She had a rather abusive childhood, her older brother raised her, and she didn't really have anybody to show her compassion until I came into the picture."

"Makes sense." Eleanor said.

"She has dated other girls before," Jeanette said, "but none of them would last. I don't know if they couldn't put up with her clinginess either, or perhaps they didn't get along very well, or they couldn't establish a connection, or what."

"Be that as it may," Eleanor said, "if you aren't happy in the relationship, you have to do something about it."

"I know you're right, Ellie," Jeanette said, "but I just can't bare the thought of hurting Roberta's feelings. I just couldn't do that to her."

"You need to do something." Eleanor suggested. "Anything."

Whatever that something or anything was, Jeanette had no clue. She recalls how interesting her relationship with Roberta was from the beginning. It wasn't too akward, as they were already close friends before establishing their relationship. Jeanette even enjoyed the sex in the beginning. It was the first time she had sex regularly since being a brainwashed prostitute, and Roberta was really good in bed, so she enjoyed it. Roberta, meanwhile, always felt that Jeanette was incredible in bed, given those years she spent as a prostitute and knowing how to pleasure people, wwhich is why she always looked forward to their weekly Friday night intimacy. After some time had passed, Jeanette began finding the sex incredibly akward and didn't enjoy it so much anymore. There was still the issue of Roberta's clinginess and how Jeanette was feeling smothered all the time. She knew Eleanor was right, and she had to do something to get out of the relationship, but she feared hurting Roberta's feelings and triggering another depression. Jeanette had no idea what to do.


	4. Not So Extreme Makeover

She's Just Not Into You Chapter 4: Not So Extreme Makeover

As Jeanette and Eleanor continued conversing in the food court of the mall, Roberta wandered down one of the wings until she found herself walking into the JC Penney at the end of the corridor. She got to thinking on what she had previously read the second chapter of her relationship help book and thought about how it was perhaps time to give herself a makeover. She entered JC Penney and browsed through their selections to see what she might like. For quite some time, Roberta's signature outfit consisted of a black minidress and matching boots. She remembered Jeanette once telling her her black attire with her brown hair made her look mysterious, and suggested it could be why so many jerks try to hit on her all the time. While Roberta had yet to find anything, she made up her mind that she was going to steer clear of dark colors, hoping in addition to giving herself a new look, she would also wouldn't attract so many flirts as well. Like Jeanette, Roberta wasn't much into fashion, neither of them went shopping for clothes very much. Prior to getting her new job with the news station, Jeanette typical wore ill-fitting clothes, but she always managed to look cute in no matter what she wore. Roberta's style was usually plain and simple, so she thought maybe she should look into more eye grabbing attire, though she didn't want anything flashy or gaudy. She browsed through a selection of summer apparrel, taking a few dresses, tops, skirts, shorts, into consideration. She thought about how blue and purple were Jeanette's favorite colors, so she selected two pairs of outfits to try on. One was a little dress that was a sea of different shade of bright blue, the other was a little purple top with white shorts. She stepped into a dressing room to try them. When she stripped down to her underwear, Roberta caught a glimpse of herself in the full mirror, and admired her figure.

"I can't believe Jeanette could get bored with this!" Roberta barked to herself.

Jeanette did used to complement Roberta's figure earlier in their relationship. She used to speak of her naturally full and large bust, as well as her well shaped legs. Roberta certainly liked what she saw. She tried on the blue dress first. Despite it being marked in her size, she found it to be too loose and flowy, though she liked the length of the skirt as well as the length of the sleeves that covered just her shoulders. After that, she tried on the purple top and the white shorts. The top had a much better fit than the dress, it hugged her body in all the right places, she felt it helped accentuate her bust, and she liked it was sleeveless. She felt the shorts were of a perfect length, though she found them to be tight and uncomfortable. Roberta heard a buzz from the pocket of her black minidress hanging on the hook, she pulled her mobile phone out and saw Jeanette had texted her that she and Eleanor were finished with lunch and that she was ready to leave.

A few moments later, Jeanette was waiting patiently around the entrance of the food court when Roberta finally reappeared among the sea of people.

"There you are," Jeanette said, "I was wondering where you were."

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Roberta said, "I was just trying on some new clothes."

"You?" Jeanette asked.

"Yeah." Roberta said. "Why?"

"No reason," Jeanette said, "I just can't remember the last time you looked for new clothes."

"I can say the same about you until you got your new job." Roberta retorted.

"Okay, okay," Jeanette said, as she turned to leave, while Roberta followed. "See anything you liked?"

Roberta shruged in a coy manner. "Oh, a couple of possibilities."

"Really?" Jeanette asked.

"Yeah." Roberta said.

"Why do you get them?" Jeanette suggested.

Roberta paused for a moment. "Is it in our budget?"

"I suppose so, if they're reasonable." Jeanette said.

After paying $75 for the dress, $50 for the top, and $35 for the shorts, Jeanette and Roberta found themselve out close to two hundred dollars. Jeanette quietly cursed Roberta's sudden fashion conscience, knowing it would delay her own purchase of a new camera. Later that evening, Jeanette relaxed on the sofa, watching the DVR recordings of the footage she filmed for the news in the weeks before. In the bedroom, Roberta tried to decide on which of her two new outfits she'd wear first. Figuring she was desperate, she went with the top and shorts. She walked out into the living room and started conversing with Jeanette as an excuse to get her to notice her.

"You don't mind if we do leftovers tonight, do you?" Roberta asked. "I can't think of what to cook tonight."

"Sure, no problem, take a break," Jeanette said, without looking out, "oh, will you look at this?"

"What's wrong?" Roberta asked.

They observed the screen, and the newscast Jeanette was watching, which was out in the field, suddenly had a very blurry, distorted, and pixelate picture.

"Sometimes I can't stand those field cameras of theirs," Jeanette moaned, "they're so cheap, you'd think they could afford better ones."

Roberta intentionally stepped in front of the TV to block Jeanette's view. "Doesn't help that they're number three in a four station market, does it?"

"No," Jeanette said, unfazed by Roberta blocking the TV, "they're trying to improve, but they're just not doing a very good job of it."

Roberta was practically biting her tounge to get Jeanette to notice her, but at that moment, Jeanette simply tossed the remote aside, rose from the sofa, stretched, and walked into the kitchen.

"What kind of leftovers do we still have?" Jeanette asked.

Roberta stifled a scoff as she stormed back into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her, starling Jeanette.

"What's gotten into her?" Jeanette asked.

Roberta slipped into the bathroom and took another look at herself in the new outfit. With the top accentuating her bust, and the shorts showing off a decent amount of her legs, she was sure that this would grab Jeanette's attention. Roberta groaned loudly as she went back into the bedroom and changed back into her old dress, while tossing her new outfit aside. The following day, Roberta was determined to get Jeanette to notice her, so when she got through with her shift at the bookstore, she went home and changed into her new blue dress, and spawled out on the sofa, waiting for Jeanette to return home from work herself. It turned out to be another late night for Jeanette after she and the rest of the news team had to cover a fire that broke out in an apartment complex in another part of town, and the hard hitting news story gave her such a rush of adrenaline that when she finally returned home, Jeanette had a hard time settling down.

"Boy, what a day!" Jeanette said, walking through the door, "did you happen to see the fire we covered on the news? That was pretty scary!"

Jeanette walked into the kitchen to grab herself a drink from the refridgerator, while Roberta continued to wait on the sofa until she noticed her. Jeanette gulped from her bottle of sprite as she walked back into the living room.

"Nobody knows exactly what happened," Jeanette continued, "there's a possibilty it may have been a grease fire started when someone in one of the apartments was cooking, but the fire department is still investigating the cause."

Roberta eyeballed Jeanette as she paced around the living room, while gulping her sprite.

"I'll tell you, it was pretty scary," Jeanette continued, "quite abit of damage too, the apartment the fire started in and the one directly above it were pretty much wiped out."

Roberta continued to eyeball, and Jeanette continued to pace.

"Good thing we managed to get ourselves insured, huh Robbie?" Jeanette said. "I just hope we can prevent our coverage from lapsing again. Good thing I'm bringing in more money than I used to when I worked at the bookstore."

Jeanette took another big gulp of her sprite, while Roberta still eyeballed her.

"I guess you must feel a little akward and lonely at the bookstore during the day without me there working too, huh?" Jeanette asked, hypothetically.

"You said a mouthful." Roberta growled.

"Well, life goes on," Jeanette said, as she approached the sofa, "may I?"

Roberta pulled her feet off the sofa to let Jeanette sit down. She finally finished her sprite with a loud sigh of relief. Roberta sat, staring intently at Jeanette, which she finally noticed after a moment of peering out of the corner of her eye.

"Something on my face?" Jeanette asked.

"Don't you notice anything?" Roberta asked.

Jeanette sat for a moment. "What?"

Roberta hopped up on her feet and held up her hands, indicating for Jeanette to look at her.

"Oh, you're wearing your new dress!" Jeanette said.

"Well?" Roberta asked.

"Well what?" Jeanette asked. "It looks nice, I like it."

"You do?" Roberta asked.

"Sure, it goes nicely with your coloring." Jeanette said.

"Well thanks for noticing!" Roberta said, half sarcastically, as she stormed off for the bedroom.

Jeanette was growing increasingly confused by Roberta's unusual behavior, but before she had a chance to do anything else, Roberta stepped back into the living room, this time in her new top and shorts.

"Okay, now what about this?" Roberta asked.

"That looks good too." Jeanette said.

"I thought it was very flattering when I tried it on." Roberta pressed.

"It is," Jeanette agreed, "it complements your shape nicely."

"That's what I thought too." Roberta said.

"It really shows off how toned your arms are too." Jeanette said.

Roberta hadn't thought of that. "You really think so?"

Jeanette nodded. "Yeah. I think you made some nice choices."

"Thanks." Roberta said in relief.

Jeanette thought nothing more of Roberta's impromptu fashion show, as she placed a hand on her forehead. "What a day. I feel like I'm on a high that I can't come down from."

Roberta sat back down on the sofa next to Jeanette, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I think I know something that would help calm you down."

The two chipettes looked into each other's eyes for a moment.

"You know something?" Jeanette began, "I think I know too."

Roberta slowly leaned in closer, intending on kissing Jeanette, until she ruined the moment for her.

"A bubble bath." Jeanette said.

"What?!" Roberta blurted out.

"A bubble bath," Jeanette said, "a nice, long bubble bath... maybe a little aroma therapy too... that would be so relaxing."

Jeanette rose from the sofa and started for the bedroom.

"Well, do you need any help?" Roberta asked.

"With what?" Jeanette asked.

"In the bath?" Roberta asked.

Jeanette chuckled, "I'm grown up, Robbie, I think I'm capable of getting into the bathtub myself."

Jeanette stepped into the bedroom, and then into the bathroom. Roberta fell off the sofa onto her knees and let out a loud wail of frustration. Her attempts to revitalize the romance between her and Jeanette have continually backfired. Trying to bond over a shared interest turned out to be a bust, and going with a new look ended on a sour note as well. At this point, Roberta was beginning to think she wasted her money on buying that relationship book, but there were still other chapters to go, and perhaps there were still other efforts she can make to try to capture Jeanette's interest again. 


	5. Sharing

She's Not That Into You Chapter 5: Sharing

After Jeanette had filled the bathtub with aroma therapy suds, filling the entire bathroom with the scents of lavendar and lilac, she got into the tub and nearly purred over the sensation of the warm and soothing water enveloping her skin as she got in. She placed her loofa behind her head as cushion as she rested it on the back of the tub wall, closed her eyes, and took in the relax aroma, as she felt her cares floating away. Roberta, on the other hand, got to thinking about how long it had been since she last saw Jeanette naked. She tip-toed into the bedroom and up to the bathroom door where she tried to quietly turn the doorknob in order to peep in and spy on Jeanette. As it turns out, Jeanette had locked the door, much to Roberta's dismay. What possible reasons could Jeanette have for wanting or needing to lock the door? She couldn't believe this. While the frustrations that were bent up in Jeanette seemed to finally be melting away, the frustrations that were bent up inside Roberta were escalating higher and higher. As the night grew longer, bedtime was yet another night of routine. Once again, Roberta was already sitting up in bed, in her pajamas, looking solemn, as Jeanette stepped out of the bathroom, removing her bathrobe and revealing she was already in her pajamas.

"That bubblebath really did wonders for me tonight!" Jeanette said.

"I'm so thrilled for you." Roberta said, dripping with sarcasm.

Jeanette turned the covers back and crawled into her side of the bed. "You ought to give it a try sometime, Robbie."

"What's that?" Roberta asked.

"A nice, long, warm bubblebath, with some aroma therapy." Jeanette suggested.

"What for?" Roberta asked, with a shrug.

"Just it'd be nice," Jeanette said, "you seem rather tense lately, I thought maybe it would help ease whatever tension you may have."

Roberta just stared at Jeanette.

"Or not." Jeanette shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter."

Jeanette removed her glasses from her face and placed them on the night table next to her.

"Well, goodnight, Roberta." Jeanette said.

Roberta quickly leaned in, trying to at least get a goodnight kiss from Jeanette, but just as quickly, and without thinking, Jeanette rolled over to go to sleep. Roberta clinched her teeth so hard she could feel them almost cracking from the pressure of her clinched jaw. Once again, she through the covers back and jumped out of bed. That caught Jeanette's attention.

"Where are you going?" Jeanette asked.

"I'm, uh... I'm not real tired," Roberta lied, "I thought I'd go watch a little TV or something."

"Oh, well, okay." Jeanette said, rolling over again.

Roberta shut the door bedroom door and went over to the computer in the livingroom. Logging onto Facebook, Roberta browsed through Jeanette's old photos and albums, and came across the collection of shots she snapped from their trip to the beach two years ago. Being the shy and modest girl that she is, most of the swimsuit shots of Jeanette had her mostly out of frame, or standing behind something otherwise obstructing a look at her, that is except for one. It wasn't much. It was a shot that was taken after Jeanette had fallen off of her waterboard, and was pulling herself back onto it. Seeing her bare arms and just tiny hint of cleavage as Jeanette pulled herself out of the water and back onto her board was the most of her skin Roberta had seen in a long while. After bringing up the full size, Roberta slipped her hand down into her pajamas and underwear, and stuck her fingers into her opening to masturbate to the picture. As Roberta sat fingering herself, fawning over the little bit of Jeanette's flesh she's seen in a long time, she went faster and faster, but there was a problem. Frustration was being the enemy. With all of the negative feelings Roberta was experiencing, she was feeling absolutely no pleasure or arousal whatsoever, and after fifteen minutes of persistence, she finally gave up. She felt nothing at all. She logged out of Facebook and dropped to the sofa. With nothing else to today, Roberta turned on the lamp and pulled out her relationship book once more to proceed to the next chapter. This chapter went into detail that one aspect of a healthy relationship is the ability for the two partners to depend on one another, especially in times of need. The chapter then went on to suggest that one may become too involved in their own personal emotions and feelings, while not taking their partner's into consideration, and that one should be able to put their partner over themselves, and try to look at things from their perspective, and try to let what happens to them affect them as well. Roberta closed the book and thought about how things had been going recently, and decided that maybe she had been a little too wrapped up in her own misery to really think about how Jeanette even feels about anything. Much like their trip to the mall earlier, she was too interested in looking for new clothes to make herself appear more attractive to Jeanette than help Jeanette look for a decent new camera for her photography hobby. She decided starting the next morning, she would try and shift her midframe, and be more considerate to Jeanette's feelings about things. The following morning, as the two chipettes ate their breakfast, Roberta began her new conversation.

"Are you feeling any better?" Roberta asked.

"What do you mean?" Jeanette asked.

"Well, I know how stressed you been feeling lately," Roberta said, "I was just hoping that after a long bubblebath and a good night's sleep that you were feeling better."

"Oh, yeah, I feel a little calmer and more serene now." Jeanette said.

"I'm happy to hear that." Roberta said.

"What about you?" Jeanette asked.

"Me?" Roberta asked.

"Yeah." Jeanette said. "I'm observant. I can tell you seem tense about something yourself."

"Oh, no, nothing at all," Roberta lied, "I've just been... really... concerned about you is all."

"That's sweet of you, Roberta." Jeanette reached over and gently caressed Roberta's hand resting ont he table. She didn't think anything of it, but for Roberta, the gesture meant alot more to her than it normally would have. Roberta was hoping this would be a sign that things were starting improve between them already.

"Jeanette?" Roberta spoke up.

"Hmm?" Jeanette asked.

"How do you feel?" Roberta asked. "You know... about... how... things are?"

It was obvious to Roberta that she was trying to be subtle about trying to mend their relationshop. Not so much to Jeanette, who took the question in a more general manner.

"Well," Jeanette began, "I must admit I do kinda miss how things used to be."

Roberta felt something. "Really?"

"Yeah," Jeanette continued, "working at the bookstore was such a simple, quiet job that didn't require so many little details having to be looked over because sometimes even the tiniest little thing that can go wrong can screw everything up. Technical difficulties can be a real pain."

Roberta was disappointed that the conversation turned into Jeanette's career, but Roberta tried to take it into consideration. "So, it's a little rough then, huh?"

"At times, yeah," Jeanette said, "particularly when we have sweeps weeks. I'm glad that's over and things are little quieter now."

"That should be able to help relieve you of your stress." Roberta said.

"It should," Jeanette said, "unfortunately, the only downside is when things quiet down, the pay goes down a little, then we end up having to tighten our finances."

"Yeah..." Roberta agreed.

"I'm just glad we're not behind on any of our bills and that my credit score is pretty decent." Jeanette admitted.

"There's always a silver lining in everything." Roberta said.

"So ture." Jeanette agreed.

"At least hopefully when things start picking back up, we can save up enough to get you a new camera." Roberta said.

"I'd love that." Jeanette said.

Roberta was having a hard time determining if any of this was working. It was perhaps the first real conversation the two had about anything in a long time. Roberta hoped she was doing the right thing in trying to share in Jeanette's burdens. Now, she was just wishing that Jeanette would do the same with her.

"You know something Robbie?" Jeanette asked. "I think I may actually take your idea into consideration."

"What idea?" Roberta asked.

"About starting my own porfolio and selling my photos," Jeanette reminded her, "I bet that would be a really nice way to bring in a little extra income so we can have a little more extra money just for us."

"Yeah," Roberta said, "then maybe we could actually start doing things again."

Jeanette chuckled nervously, "yeah, sure."

Knowing Jeanette frequently concerns herself over their finances, Roberta got to think about how her own job still working at the bookstore doesn't do as well as it once did.

"Would it help us out if I got another job?" Roberta asked.

"What for?" Jeanette asked. "You have a decent, steady job."

"Just thought maybe I could find something better," Roberta said, "you did."

"True." Jeanette said. "Whatever you want to do, it really doesn't matter to me one way or another."

Roberta frowned. Although Jeanette meant nothing by it, Roberta took it a little personally that any offer she made to try to help improve her and Jeanette's life "didn't matter" to her.

"What would you do?" Jeanette asked.

"What do you mean?" Roberta asked.

"As far as looking for a new line of work?" Jeanette asked.

"I really have no clue," Roberta said, "I haven't even really thought about it until now. I guess I just kinda accepted that I'd be working at the bookstore for the rest of my life."

"If that's what you want to do," Jeanette said, "that's perfectly fine. Of course, if you think there's something out there you'd enjoy doing even more and the window of opportunity is open, then I'd say go for it."

That was probably one of the most encouraging things she heard Jeanette say to her in a long time.

"I'd do it for you, of course." Roberta added.

"Oh, Robbie, you do so much for me as it is," Jeanette said, "do something for yourself for a change."

Roberta took that as a buzzkill. After breakfast, Jeanette left for work, and later that afternoon, Roberta started her shift at the bookstore. As she pushed carts around the store, placing new books on shelves, she would look around her surroundings and contemplate being there. Normally, she regarded the bookstore as a second home. She was as much of a bookworm as Jeanette was, but Jeanette somehow managed to find something else life had to offer her with photography and journaling. Being surrounded by books, the smell of bad coffee and stale muffins, the sounds of patrons quietly talking amongst themselves all felt so relaxing to Roberta, but she started to wonder if perhaps there may be something else out there that she could do for herself, and more important to her, for Jeanette. During her dinner break, Roberta borrowed a newspaper from magazine section and looked through the want-ads. The problem is she had no idea what exactly she was trying to look for in a new job, and as she looked over the listings, none of them sounded particularly interesting to her anyway. Most of the listings were well out of her league of training and expertise anyway, such as medicine, construction, mechanics, and law enforcement. Not satisfied with anything she was looking at, she decided the next chance she got, she would look on craigslist and other job sites to see if there's anything better out there she may like to look into. 


	6. Time and Space

She's Not That Into You Chapter 6: Time and Space

Later that evening, Jeanette had returned home, after she and the rest of the news team had covered a breaking story on a conveniet store robbery down in the boondocks. It was negative stories like this that always left Jeanette feeling bad for the world. While running the field camera, Jeanette could just sense the terror in the customers stories of what happened when two armed robbers burst in and forced many of them on the floor as they robbed the clerks at gunpoint, and making off with all that was in their registers, and a few additional snack items, packs of beer. Considering their station wasn't the highest in the local market, they jumped on any opportunity to get a hard news story as possible, however, Jeanette was longing for them to cover more positive stories, such as local events, festivals, concerts, and other points of local interest. She even entertained the idea of her sister Brittany doing a concert in town and getting to be there to cover the story. As Jeanette walked into the condo she shaired with Roberta, she found her at the computer.

"How was your day?" Jeanette asked.

"Same old, same old." Roberta asked. "Yours?"

"Another grind," Jeanette said, "we covered a convenient store robbery just outside of town. I felt so sorry for those poor, frightened people there."

"I certainly wouldn't work in a convenient store," Roberta said, "too risky."

"Still looking at other job opportunities?" Jeanette asked, as she sat on the soft adjacent to the computer table.

"I thought I might to see if there's anything more fulfilling out there." Roberta said.

"You know, Roberta," Jeanette said, "if you really want to look into other areas of employment, that's fine, but really, if you're going to do this, don't do it for me. Do if yourself."

"But I am," Roberta partly lied, "I mean, you seemed to have grown quite abit since you started working at the news station, I figure I could use a little growing myself."

"That's good, that's really good," Jeanette said, "I hope you can find something out there that would benefit you."

Roberta screwed a smile on her face as she resumed looking over local job listings on craigslist. Much like the want-ads she looked over the in the paper, alot of them were in fields where she had no expertise in. And the few ads that she did come across that sounded interesting to her were either part-time jobs, temp placements, or sounded like scams. Deciding to give up on a job search for the time being, Roberta was feeling dejected again. After trying to further relate to Jeanette and try to see the world from her perspective and share in her views, she was unhappy that Jeanette didn't want to do anything for her. Once again, she was feeling as though she wasted money on the book she purchased. She decided she would read through one more chapter as a last effort to try to rekindle the romance between them, so the following morning when Jeanette left for work, she did just that. The following chapter went on to say that being in a relationship with someone doesn't mean that your objective is to spend every waking moment at their side and forcing yourself into their daily life. The chapter then went on to suggest giving your partner some time and space to prevent them from feeling smothered, and to give both of you room for yourself. With that, Roberta slammed the book shut.

"Are you kidding me?!" Roberta scoffed. "That's all that's been going on between us is time and space! That's all there is between us anymore is time and space! Any more time and space and I'll be virtually invisible! This book is complete crap! Nothing in this book has helped me rekindle my relationship with my loved one! I'm definitely going to be wanting a refund!"

With that, Roberta dropped the book to the floor and kicked it under the coffee table, intending on taking it back to the bookstore when she returned for her afternoon and get a refund for it. But it slipped her mind. For the rest of the week, Roberta felt like she was nothing, and began to distance herself rom Jeanette, feeling that Jeanette probably didn't want her company. Jeanette didn't even notice or realize it. The next couple of days felt like breathers to Jeanette, as she was mostly in the studio running cameras for daily newscasts, and uploading media to their social media outlets. Come Friday, Jeanette was pleased to receive a somewhat larger paycheck, so she rang up Roberta who had just started her afternoon shift at the bookstore.

"Hello?" Roberta answered.

"Hey Robbie," Jeanette said, "I got really good pay this week!"

"That's nice." Roberta blew it off.

"So since we have a little extra this week, I thought we'd go out tonight." Jeanette suggested.

Roberta perked up. "Really?"

"Sure!" Jeanette squeaked. "We'll go somewhere, have a nice meal, maybe a couple of after dinner drinks, and make a night of it."

"I'd love to!" Roberta said with excitment.

"See you tonight then." Jeanette said before hanging up.

Finally, Roberta thought to herself. Later after her shift, Roberta returned home, changed into one of the new outfits that she bought, and she and Jeanette went out to one of their favorite little grills. Spending time with Jeanette in a favorite eatery, sharing in appetizers of calamari, a meal of Japanese cuisine, and a couple of glasses of wine with shots of saki, Roberta finally felt some happiness in her heart again. Jeanette, however, felt it was nothing more than a night of eating out with a friend. At one point during the evening, Jeanette excused herself to the restroom, while Roberta began to daydream about old times. She remembered one of their visits to this same grill early in their relationship. Jeanette wasn't one to consume alcoholic beverages to the extent that Roberta may, but she would occasionally drink socially. On that particular night, after only one glass of wine with a shot saki, Jeanette was already a little tipsy, even to Roberta's surprise.

"I just love coming to this place, don't you?" Jeanette asked, with her slightly slurred speech.

Roberta nodded, "Yeah, in fact, you know what? I was thinking about something?"

"What's... that?" Jeanette asked, swaying on her stool a tad.

"Maybe we should make this 'our place'." Roberta suggested.

"'Our place'?" Jeanette asked.

"Yeah, you know how couples find a place they really enjoy going to regularly, and they always say, 'this is our place'? Maybe this could be our 'our place'." Roberta said.

Jeanette reached out, sticking her finger down the legging of Robert'a boot, maneuvering her finger around her calf. "That's a pretty good idea."

Roberta began giggle, even moreso when Jeanette then placed her hand on her knee. "Careful Jeanette, people may be watching."

"So?" Jeanette said, as she moved her hand up Roberta's thigh, under her minidress. "You afraid somebody might try to steal you away from me?"

Roberta snorted. "Knowing how many drunk guys are, it's a possibilty."

"Tough cookies." Jeanette said, leaning over and kissing Roberta, much to her surprise.

The two chipettes began making out at the bar, when their server walked over, loudly rattling their glasses to get their attention.

"Is there anything else you two need?" The server asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

"Nope. Not a thing." They said in unison.

"Then how's about you take a couple of shots of scram and get yourselves a room?" The server said, leaving their change on the counter, while they laughed and went about their way.

Roberta downed some more wine and saki, and giggled at the memory flashing through her head when Jeanette returned from the ladies room.

"What's so funny?" Jeanette asked.

"Just thinking about the time we almost got in trouble here!" Roberta giggled.

Jeanette's memory of the same night was fuzzy due to her intoxication. "When did we almost get in trouble?"

"You know..." Roberta said with a sly voice, "that night long ago when you were starting to get a little frisky?"

Jeanette felt a little embarassed to have Roberta bright that up again, so she suggested they go home. When they returned home for the night, that's when things began to take a turn.

"I really had a good time tonight." Roberta said, still giggling from the wine and saki she had earlier.

"It was nice to get out of the house and enjoy ourselves." Jeanette agreed.

"I really wish we did stuff like this together more often." Roberta admitted.

Jeanette smirked. She knew she wasn't making much effort into doing things with Roberta. "Yeah. Well, maybe we could."

"I really want to." Roberta said.

"Alright," Jeanette caved, "whenever you feel like you'd like to do something, we'll do it."

"As a matter of fact," Roberta said, "I know of something I'd like to do already."

"What's that?" Jeanette asked.

"It is Friday night." Roberta reminded Jeanette.

Jeanette repressed a sigh. She knew what Roberta was hinting at. "So it is. So, shall we make a night of it?"

Roberta also repressed a sigh. "Yes!"

Sometime later the two chipettes were in bed and had proceeded to scissor each other. Roberta was leaning back when all of her bottled frustration finally rose to the surface and popped. She leaned forward and through herself around Jeanette, swiftly wrestling her to her back, allowing her to thrust and grind against her. Unaware of how much of her frustration was spilling out, Roberta's thrusting and grinding was very rough and forceful, much to Jeanette's confusion and discomfort.

"Uh, Robbie?" Jeanette asked in between Roberta's loud moans.

Roberta was getting so out of control that her larges tits accidentally hit Jeanette in the face a couple of times, almost smacking her glasses off.

"Robbie!" Jeanette said again, but still she continued to thrust and grind in a very rough manner, until Jeanette finally reached up, grabbed her shoulders, and forcefully stopped her. "Wait, Roberta! Stop! Stop! Stop!"

"What? What? What?!" Roberta asked, as her breathing had becomed labored.

"What in the world are you doing?" Jeanette asked.

"What in the world does it look like?" Roberta asked. "I'm trying to pleasure you, what do you think?"

"Ok then..." Jeanette responded, "you just don't have to be so rough about it..."

"What?!" Roberta shrieked, sitting up off Jeanette.

"Well, I almost feel like I'm being raped," Jeanette admitted, "it's making me feel uncomfortable."

Roberta sat in dumbfounded silence before she jumped off Jeanette, stormed into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her.

"Roberta?" Jeanette called out, to no answer. Jeanette slipped out of bed, walked over to the bathroom door and kocked on it. "Roberta? Are you ok?"

"Just leave me alone!" Roberta yelled from inside.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Jeanette said, still knocking, "it's just that you were making me feel uncomfortable."

"I said leave me alone!" Roberta yelled once more.

"I said I was sorry," Jeanette said, "can't we talk about this, Robbie?"

No response.

"Robbie?" Jeanette said while knocking on the door once more.

Still no response, so Jeanette, not knowing what else to do, returned to bed, pulled her pajamas back on, and rolled over on her side. Inside the bathroom, Roberta opened the medicine cabinet and found a pair of scissors, she grabbed them and started stabbing herself in the wrist, repressing any shrieks or yelps of pain that would have followed. She held her wrist over the sink, bleeding herself out, before looking up at the assortment of medications that were in the cabinet. Suddenly overcome with feelings of the days of her youth when her abusive and neglecting parents drove her to drug addiction, Roberta suddenly felt like she was finally seeing old friends again. She turned on the faucet, filled a glass, and one by one she pulled a bottle of a shelf, popped the cap off, and started popping pills into her mouth until it was almost full. She downed them with water, then grabbed a roll of bandages to wrap her self inflicted wounds, but was soon losing her coordination. She barely managed to wrap the bandages around her wrist just once before she slumped to the floor in an altered state. As she lay on the floor, everything that surrounded her seemed to start coming to life. The tiles of the floor appeared to peel off and swirl around her. The shower curtain looked like a magic carpet that was reaching for her. The walls were wobbling like giant sheets of gelatan. The ceiling looked like it was caving in on her. And the sounds of the faucet still running actually sounded melodious and harmonious, like alternative music. Before long, this lifelike animated world was turning into an indistinguishable blur, and that blur soon faded to black.

The following morning, Jeanette awoke to find Roberta was still locked in the bathroom, but heard the sounds of running water. Unsure of what was going on, Jeanette began knocking on the door again.

"Roberta? Are you still in there?" Jeanette asked.

No response.

"Come on, Roberta, open the door!" Jeanette said.

Still no response.

"Uh, Roberta, I kinda need to use the toilet..." Jeanette said.

Still no response.

"Roberta!" Jeanette knocked louder.

Still no response.

Jeanette finally decided to try picking the lock to the bathroom door. Grabbing a hairpin off the dresser, Jeanette wiggled it around in the keyhole until she finally heard a click. She opened the door, though from where Robeta still lay on the floor, the door slammed into her head. Jeanette looked down to see what happened and was shocked at the sight she saw.

"Oh my god, Roberta! What happened?" Jeanette asked as she knelt down beside her.

Roberta was still unconscience from her medicated state. Jeanette reached over and started shaking her shoulders.

"Roberta? Are you ok? Roberta? Speak to me!" Jeanette said.

Roberta's eyes barely fluttered. Jeanette grabbed her wrist to check her pulse, discovered the poorly wrapped bandage around it. Jeanette pealed off the bandage, which was now dry and crusty from the dried blood, and found the numerous puncture wounds. Jeanette slowly looked over the sink when she realized the water was still running. There was smears of blood all over the edge, as well as an array of overturned pill bottles around the edge, some even on the floor.

"Oh my god..." Jeanette mumbled, "she fell off the wagong..."

Jeanette turned the faucet off, and helped Roberta into bed.


	7. Possessiveness

She's Just Not Into You Chapter 7: Possessiveness

Jeanette had gotten Roberta into bed, and she continued to sleep off her drug-induced state. Jeanette frantically paced around the livingroom, both confused and worried. She knew not the reason for Roberta turning to drugs again last night, but she had a sickening feeling she was to blame. She knew Roberta was upset after she complained the sex was feeling too rough and uncomfortable, but she had no idea that it was the result of frustration that had been bottled up for months. Jeanette sank into the sofa, staring at the floor, but something caught her eye. She noticed the corner of a book sticking out from under the coffee table. Jeanette pulled it out and found the relationship book that Roberta had secretly been studying from. Jeanette's sickening feel became too overwhelming to her at this point. She ran into the bathroom while Roberta still lay unconscience, stuck her head in the toilet, and thru up. Later still, Roberta finally regained conscienceness, but she was incredibly incoherent. She got out of bed and stumbled into the livingroom where Jeanette was still on the sofa.

"Oh, you're up." Jeanette remarked.

"Yuh..." Roberta mumbled.

"When did you fall off the wagon?" Jeanette asked.

"Wuh?" Roberta asked.

"When did you fall off the wagon?" Jeanette asked again. "When did you start abusing drugs again?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Roberta mumbled.

"Yes you do," Jeanette said, "you took just about all the drugs we had in the medicine cabinet."

"I did not." Roberta aruged.

"Yes you did," Jeanette said," you were locked in the bathroom this morning, I unlocked the door to find you passed out on the floor, your wrist cut, and pill bottles scattered all over the sink."

Roberta looked at her wrist, seeing the gashes that she made without even remember it. "I don't remember a thing..."

"Of course you don't," Jeanette said, "you probably burned it out of your head when you were doped last night."

Roberta barely shuffled a few more feet into the livingroom, looking terrible from what she had did the night before.

"You've been acting very strange lately, Roberta," Jeanette said, "you've been really short and tempermental, and last night when I told you were treating me too rough during sex, you stormed into the bathroom and locked yourself in. Then this morning, I found this relationship book under the coffee table, and I know it's not mine."

Roberta didn't respond. She looked ahead, as if staring into space.

"Roberta?" Jeanette asked. "Am I the reason you've been behaving like this?"

Roberta finally broke down, nearly collapsing onto the floor. "You don't love me anymore!"

"Oh, Roberta, of course I love you." Jeanette said.

"No you don't." Roberta cried. "You never talk to me anymore, you never look at me anymore, you never do anything with me anymore, you always back out on Friday nights..."

Roberta was still loopy from her medicated state the night before, and cried herself into another unconscience state, so Jeanette took her back to bed. As she continued to sleep off another drug induced unconscience spell, Jeanette fought back tears as she stood in the livingroom, staring at the relationship book Roberta had bought on the coffee table. A compassionate soul by nature, Jeanette was now faced with the last thing she wanted to happen. She felt so alone and ignorant of the situation that she had no idea what she was going to do or say, and even felt as though it maybe too late now that Roberta had turned to drugs again for the first time on countless years. Jeanette knew the only thing she could do is try to talk things over, but she feared that it would only make things worse at this point. Despite not really wanting to continue a relationship, Jeanette was beginning to consider counciling, if only for Roberta's sake. She felt like Roberta needed therapy. The feeling of loneliness in the situation made Jeanette wish there was someone she could turn to, a mediator of sorts, but there was nobody. If only Brittany wasn't so closed minded and homophobic, she would reach out to her for help, considering Brittany had always been Jeanette's confidant. Of course, Brittany is too busy continuing her solo career. Not to mention, Jeanette had been hiding her relationship with Roberta from Brittany ever since it happened, knowing her sister, who didnd't even approve of their platonic friendship, would not approve of the relationship. Jeanette was suddenly struck by a thought. A long shot, in fact, but she thought there maybe one person she could reach out to. While Roberta continued to sleep it off, Jeanette swiped her phone and began browsing through her contacts until she came across a name and number for Dennis. Jeanette slipped back into the livingroom and dialed the number, waiting through the ringing, until a maschuline voice answered.

"Hello?" Dennis answer.

"Uh, hello, is this Dennis?" Jeanette asked.

"It is." Dennis said.

"Dennis Flanagan?" Jeanette asked.

"Yes." Dennis said.

"Dennis Flanagan, Roberta Flanagan's older brother?" Jeanette asked.

"Who is this?" Dennis asked.

"Oh, sorry, this is Jeanette Miller," Jeanette responded, "Roberta's... friend..."

"Oh yeah, I almost didn't recognize your voice for a minute," Dennis said, "what's going on?"

"Alot, actually," Jeanette admitted, "actually... we're really in a bad situation..."

"What's wrong?" Dennis asked.

"Roberta fell off the wagon." Jeanette said.

"She what?" Dennis asked, with shock in his voice.

"She fell off the wagon," Jeanette said, "and... I... I really hate that it's come to this, but I think she did so because of me..."

"What do you mean?" Dennis asked.

"Our relationship has been strained as of late, but I think it boiled over," Jeanette said, "I found that she has been reading a relationship book behind my back, and she's been acting very pecular lately, and finally it got to a point where I found her on the bathroom floor, unconscience, all our medicine bottles almost empty, and she appeared to have slit her wrist as well."

Jeanette could hear Dennis sighing loudly on the other end. "I honestly feared this would happen one day."

"Well, it did." Jeanette said.

"I really had the fear in the back of my mind that one day, when I least expected it, something would cause her to relapse like this. I just felt it in my gut." Dennis admitted.

"I know she has alot of issues," Jeanette said, "I know she had a rough childhood, I know she suffered alot of neglect and abuse... I just feel so awful about this, she's put me on such a high pedastal, I hate to think that I caused her to turn to drugs again."

"It's not your fault, Jeanette," Dennis said, " don't blame yourself. Like you just said, she's been putting you on a high pedastal. Perhaps too high. It sounds like to me she's become a little too obsessed with you."

"I honestly feel that way," Jeanette admitted, "I do love her, and she is my best friend, but I do feel as though she's way too possessive of me at times."

"She is," Dennis said, "she probably feels like you're the only person in the entire world she can trust, and she's attached herself to you."

"Exactly!" Jeanette said. "I heard her tell me a million times how she's a better person because of me, how I gave her reasons for living, how I was the first person to show her any compassion..."

"That's all well and good," Dennis said, "but she has to realize that there are other people out there who do love her that she can trust. She's just zeroed in on you."

Jeanette sighed. "Dennis? Would it be possible for you to come over whenever you can? I just feel so helpless right now. I feel like if she could perhaps hear this from her older brother, it may help."

"I'll see what I can do." Dennis said.

"Thank you so much." Jeanette said before the two hung up.

Jeanette went back into the bedroom to return Roberta's phone, and found Roberta shifting her position in bed, and softly groaning.

"Roberta?" Jeanette softly spoke up, only to be met with another soft groan. "Roberta?"

"Wuh?" Roberta responded, in an uncharacteristically low and groggy voice.

"Are you... how are you feeling?" Jeanette asked.

"Like... shit..." Roberta grumbled.

"You need anything?" Jeanette asked.

"No." Roberta said shortly before rolling over, facing away from Jeanette.

Jeanette sighed and left the bedroom. Moments later, Roberta awoke from her drugged induced black out, mustered herself out of bed, and walked into the livingroom, where she found Jeanette peering out the window, not knowing that Jeanette was anticipating the arrival of Dennis.

"Now what are you doing?" Roberta asked.

Jeanette was startled. "Oh, Robbie, you're up. Are you ok?"

"Like you care." Roberta mumbled.

"Come on, Roberta," Jeanette said, "we need to resolve this..."

"You're right, Jeanette," Roberta said, "and I know what our resolution is."

"You do?" Jeanette asked.

"Sit down." Roberta demanded.

In confusion, Jeanette approached the sofa, but Roberta told her to grab one of the dining table chairs to sit in. After doing as instructed, Roberta went into the dining room, pulled some rope out of the junk drawer, and instructed Jeanette to put her hand behind the back of the chair.

"You can't be serious about this." Jeanette said.

"Just do it!" Roberta said.

Jeanette hesitantly olaced her hands behind the back of the chair, while Roberta bound her wrists tightly, before tying the rest of her to the chair.

"We need to talk, Roberat," Jeanette tried to say, "can't we just talk about this?"

"Talk! Talk! Talk! Talk! Talk!" Roberta barked. "That's all you ever want to do is talk! Just talk! You never do anything anymore, you just talk!"

"This is serious, Robbie," Jeanette said, "we need to talk so we can work this out."

"What's there to work out?" Roberta asked.

"Us, clearly." Jeanette said.

"You don't care about us anymore," Roberta said, "you don't care about me anymore."

"I do too, Robbie! Can't you understand that?" Jeanette pleaded.

"What I understand is that our relationship has gone south." Roberta said.

"I'm aware of that, and that's something we need to work out, Roberta," Jeanette insisted, "we need to talk about this so we can what we can do to improve things."

"I'm the only one who's been trying to improve things!" Roberta barked. "I'm the only one who's put any sort of effort into this relationship to try and rebuild it! All you care about is yourself and your job!"

"That's not true, Roberta!" Jeanette said. "My job is demanding, and it does keep me busy, yes. Sometimes it drains me and I just don't feel like doing much because I use up all my energy out in the field, or in the studio, but that doesn't mean that I don't care any less about you!"

Roberta didn't respond.

"I'm sorry, Roberta," Jeanette insisted, "I'm really, really sorry. I know it may seem like I neglect you and never have any time for you anymore, but I never intended it to be like that."

Roberta slowly walked around behind the chair, on the verge of tears, and she brought up her trembling hands and gripped them on Jeanette's shoulders. The feeling of her fingers jittering gave her the jitters as well.

"I don't want to lose you Jeanette..." Roberta choked.

"You won't lose me, Roberta..." Jeanette struggled to say, as she could feel Roberta slowly move her hands closer to the base of her neck, "I promise."

Roberta crouched down, resting her head on top of Jeanette's. "Can't you see I need you?"

"I'm here for you, I'm here for you," Jeanette tried to assure her, "I'm always here for you... I'll always be here for you..."

Roberta lowered her face onto Jeanette's scalp and began to smell her hair. Jeanette nerves intensified as she felt Roberta's grip on her collar grow stronger and stronger the more she smelled her hair. Roberta worked her way further down until she reached the side of Jeanette's face. Roberta proceed to kiss and lick Jeanette's cheek. Roberta broke her grip away from Jeanette's collar, placing one hand on the opposite side of Jeanette's face, and dropping her other to Jeanette's hands bound behind the chair. Jeanette worked her fingers around Roberta's hand, trying to squeeze it as much as she could, hoping the small dose of physical contact would ease her. Just then, there was a familar sounding knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" Roberta asked, breaking away from Jeanette, and slowly stumbling her way to the door to answer it.

The door was opened to reveal a tall man with slightly unkepmt dirty blonde hair, and very light brown stubble covering a worn looking face. A face that was all to familar to Roberta.

"Hey there, shrimp!" The man greeted the chipmunk who answered the door.

"Dennis?" Roberta asked. "Dennis!"

Roberta jumped up into her older brothers arms as he scooped her up, embracing her tightly.

"Oh, I haven't seen you in ages!" Dennis said. "Why don't you ever call or text me no more?"

"Me? What about you?" Roberta asked through her breaking voice. "You never like anything I post on Facebook!"

"That's because I already know what you're up to!" Dennis said.

"Oh, you always think your so smart!" Roberta said.

"Can't help it." Dennis said.

"You know, nobody has to bother untying me or anything." Jeanette spoke up. 


	8. A Great Escape

She's Just Not Into You Chapter 8: A Great Escape

After untying Jeanette, Dennis offered to take Roberta away for a little while to help her calm down and reconnect with her older brother, which Jeanette thought was a wonderful idea. Moments later, Dennis and Roberta were out for a drive.

"So, how's life?" Dennis asked.

"Don't even ask." Roberta said.

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't interested." Dennis said.

"Your always so nosy." Roberta said, with the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Hey, I like to know what's going on in my baby sister's life." Dennis said.

"Nothing much," Roberta began, "I can't seem to talk my boss into giving me a raise at the bookstore. He says with bookstores doing less and less business these days, these companies are hurting as a result, and have to pinch pennies wherever they can. Damn technology."

"That bad huh?" Dennis asked.

"You know it." Roberta said. "We don't see nearly as many customers as we used to. Everybody just does everything online now. Reading on their phones, tablets, those kindle things. Why are books so unpopular?"

"I don't think people like pages with words on them." Dennis said, goofingly.

"Oh shut up." Roberta said.

"Still as touchy as ever, huh?" Dennis nudged. While he and Roberta have always been close as siblings, their relationship was still dysfunctional to say the least, and often times, they talked to each other more like an old married couple than brother and sister.

"I'm just upset right now." Roberta admitted.

"Want to talk about it?" Dennis offered.

"There you go again, prying into my personal business!" Roberta said.

"Look, Robbie," Dennis said, "you know you always tell me what's bothering you anyway, why beat around the bush and put it off?"

"Because it's personal, okay?" Roberta said. "And I don't think you'd understand anyway."

"Why wouldn't I?" Dennis asked. "I'm your brother, aren't I?"

"Yeah. So?" Roberta asked.

"So, don't you think I'd try to understand whatever is bothering you and try to help you?" Dennis asked.

"Well, sure, but..." Roberta said.

"But what?" Dennis asked.

"It's just... complicated..." Roberta said.

"It must be," Dennis said, stealing a glance over at his little chipmunk sister, "you really don't look well at all."

"I don't?" Roberta asked.

"You look like three weeks of bad weather," Dennis said, "all deshoveled and distressed. You look like you haven't slept in weeks."

Roberta faced away from Dennis and stared out the window as they drove through the city. She supressed herself from saying anything, but she knew that deep down she wanted to talk to somebody about her problem, even though nobody would probably want to hear it. Dennis, on the other hand, being her brother, was perhaps the only other person she could turn to talk. After a few moments of silence, she finally spoke up again.

"It's Jeanette." Roberta said.

"What about Jeanette?" Dennis asked.

"She doesn't like me anymore." Roberta said.

"Now how can that be?" Dennis asked.

"She just doesn't," Roberta said, "it's like she's somehow just gotten tired of me or something."

"Well, you know, sometimes, that happens in relationships..." Dennis said.

"How would you know?" Roberta asked. "You had a reputation of breaking up with girls every week."

"Be that as it may, I hear and read things." Dennis said.

"You? Read?" Roberta asked.

"So, look, what's the problem?" Dennis asked. "If the spark is fizzling out, maybe you should look into ways of trying to reconnect to one another."

"That's just it," Roberta said, "I've been trying! I've been trying so hard! And everything I try just crashes and burns! It's like she's totally oblivious to me!"

"How can she be totally oblivious?" Dennis said.

"She just is!" Roberta insisted. "I've tried everything! Taking interest in her hobbies, trying to do new things together, trying to fix myself up, everything you can imagine, and it just doesn't phase her!"

The two continued to drive in silence once more. After listening to Roberta's side of the story, and hearing Jeanette's pleas for help earlier, Dennis finally offered up his advice.

"You know something?" Dennis asked.

"What?" Roberta asked.

"I'm afraid to tell you this," Dennis said, "but... do you think it could be that, perhaps maybe, your suffocating her a little?"

"Suffocating her?" Roberta asked. "How can I be suffocating her? She hardly pays any attention to me as it is!"

"I mean, don't you think you maybe putting her on too high a pedastal?" Dennis asked.

"Who's saying anything about pedastals?" Roberta asked, clearly not understanding her brother's metaphors.

"I mean, don't you think your being a little too overly obsessive about her?" Dennis asked. "Maybe to an almost unhealthy level?"

"Obsessed with her?" Roberta asked. "Your asking me if I'm too overly obsessivew with her?"

"Well?" Dennis asked.

"I love her! She's my life!" Roberta insisted.

"I understand that," Dennis said, "but the thing of it is, she's just a normal person like anyone else."

By this time, Roberta was almost insulted. "She's anything but a normal person! She's the most important person in my life! She cared about me when nobody else did! She showed me love and compassion when nobody else would! She raised me up to the light of day when everybody else kept me shut down in darkness!"

Dennis pulled into a large, empty parking lot, underneath a shade tree.

"Look..." he began, "that's not entirely true, and you know it."

"What do you mean?" Roberta asked.

"She's not the only person who has ever loved you, cared about you, or showed you any kind of compassion." Dennis pointed out.

"Yes she is!" Roberta said.

"What about me?" Dennis asked.

"That's not the same!" Roberta insisted. "Your my brother!"

"But don't I love you?" Dennis asked.

"Yeah." Roberta said.

"Don't I care about you?" Dennis asked.

"Yeah." Roberta said.

"Didn't I always stick up for you whenever mom or dad had it out for you?" Dennis asked.

Roberta paused. "Yeah."

"And you have other friends, don't you?" Dennis asked.

"Not many." Roberta said.

"But you do have other friends, don't you?" Dennis asked again.

"Yeah." Roberta said.

"So how can you say that Jeanette is the only person in the entire world who has ever done anything for you, when there's others out there who have done for you?" Dennis asked.

"Because..." Roberta began, "because... because... she means so much to me!"

Dennis sighed. "I'm sure she does, Robbie, but can't you understand that your placing way too much importance on her and setting yourself up for disappointment in the process?"

"But I love her!" Roberta said.

"I know you do," Dennis said, "she's a great girl, and I'm sure she does alot for you. But... maybe... maybe... she just... needs you to treat her like you would anybody else, and not practically worship her like a god."

"But she is like a god to me." Roberta said.

"No, she isn't," Dennis said, "your placing too much importance on her, and then when she can't measure up to your thes ridiculous standards you create, you set yourself up for disappointment."

"But she is important to me!" Roberta said.

"I know that," Dennis said, "but she's not the only person in your life, and she's not the only person who has ever cared about you or showed you any compassion. You need to realize she's only human. Or chipmunk. Or whatever. The point is, you need to take a few steps back and realize that she's not above everyone else just because she's your best friend, or your lover, or whatever."

Roberta sat in silence again before resuming the conversation. "I just feel like she doesn't care about me anymore. We never do anything, we never go anywhere, she barely even looks at me..."

"Well, doesn't she have that new job with the news?" Dennis asked. "I thought I saw where you two had been posting about that on Facebook."

"Yeah." Roberta said.

"The news is a very demanding profession," Dennis said, "don't you think that perhaps it's keeping her so busy that she's just tired when she comes home and just wants to relax a little?"

"I guess," Roberta said, "but... even on Friday nights... Friday nights have always been our night for intimacy, and she doesn't even want to do that."

"Your both getting older," Dennis said, "maybe she just doesn't have the... ahem... endurance she once had?"

Roberta let out a loud, sad sigh, "I don't know. I just don't know. We haven't been intimate in so long."

Dennis let out a softer sigh. "Have you tried talking to her about it?"

Roberta shook her head. "That's exactly what she said."

"Well, have you?" Dennis pressed.

"No..." Roberta said.

"Why don't you talk to her about it and let her know how you feel?" Dennis suggested.

"Because..." Roberta began, "because... I don't want her to think that I think there's something wrong between us."

"That's ridiculous," Dennis said, "all relationships go through sour spells like this. How can you expect to improve anything unless you try to reach a mutual understanding?"

"But what if..." Roberta began, trying to blink back the tears she could feel welling up inside, "what if she really is tired of me? What if she really is bored with me? What if she really doesn't have feelings for me anymore?"

Dennis paused for awhile before offering up another word of wisdom, "if she doesn't... maybe she's not the one for you."

This time, Roberta couldn't hold the tears back and they rolled down her face. "But... I want her to be... I love her... she's my best friend... she's my lover... she's my world..."

"But maybe it's not meant to be..." Dennis said, softly.

Roberta broke down. She couldn't bear the thought of Jeanette not loving her anymore. Dennis reached over and squezed his little sister's shoulder as she buried her face into her hands, trying to silence her sobbing. During the whole time this was going on, back home, Jeanette went into a personal red alert. She no longer felt safe living in that condo with Roberta. She was already uncomfortable seeing how self destructive Roberta was by ODing on the drugs in their medicine cabinet, and stabbing her wrists. But tying her to the chair in a fit of inner torment was the last straw that told Jeanette she needed to get out of there quickly, and preferably, while Roberta was gone. She feared for her life. She feared that Roberta may even try to kill her while intoxicated, and decided to make a break for it. Jeanette fought back her own tears as well as she frantically packed her belongings into her car. Part of her was beating herself up inside for betraying Roberta's trust, especially after she had just promised her that she would always be there for her. Of course, Jeanette was only saying that to try to calm Roberta down. Still, she and Roberta had been best friends since high school, and Jeanette still loved her as such. She knew that deep down, Roberta was a damaged girl, and that she had inner demons she battles with. Jeanette knew that all too well, because she too struggled with inner demons after she had been brainwashed into a prostitute for so many years. No doubt that Jeanette would indeed try to help Roberta if she could, and she really did want to, but unfortunately, Jeanette knew the circumstances were different this time. Her own life was at risk, and she needed to get out while she had the chance. Perhaps if Roberta sought counciling or therapy, and got herself some professional help, maybe things could work themselves out and they come together again. But if that happened, Jeanette would have to make sure it would be purely on a platonic level as when they were younger. She can't handle being Roberta's lover anymore. Jeanette finished packing her car and took off. Once on the road, Jeanette pulled her phone out and dialed one of her contacts.

"Hello?" A squeaky voice said on the other end.

"El?" Jeanette asked. "It's Jean."

"Hey Jean, what's up?" Eleanor asked.

"Can I come over?" Jeanette asked.

"Sure! Why not?" Eleanor asked.

"Because I may need to stay awhile..." Jeanette admitted.

"Oh?" Eleanor asked.

"Yeah, can I just come over and explain it you when I get there?" Jeanette asked.

"Sure, I'll be waiting for you." Eleanor said.

"Thanks sis." Jeanette said before hanging up. 


	9. Solutions and Resolutions

She's Just Not Into You Chapter 9: Solutions and Resolutions

Jeanette made the drive to the little apartment that Eleanor lived in another part of time. As soon as Jeanette had entered the parking lot, Eleanor stepped out onto her balcony from the building's third floor. Jeanette exited her car and looked up to her younger sister.

"Do you have alot of stuff you need me to help you unpack?" Eleanor asked.

"Quite abit, but not right now," Jeanette said, "I just really need to crash for abit."

"Come on up." Eleanor said.

Jeanette did. After being brought into Eleanor's apartment, she took to the sofa, nearly burying her face into the cushions from stress and exhaustion. While Eleanor allowed her distressed sister to catch her breath on the sofa, she decided to cook a special meal of comfort food to help take the edge off of her nerves, and that did just the trick. Several minutes later, Eleanor sat in awe as she watched Jeanette hork down the meal that was made for her.

"My gosh," Eleanor commented, "if I didn't know any better, I'd think you haven't eaten in weeks!"

"I can't help it," Jeanette with her mouth full, "it's delicious."

"I thought you said Roberta was a good cook?" Eleanor pointed out.

"She is," Jeanette said in between bites, "but there's just something about your personal touch that my taste buds just love."

Eleanor's face took on a small smile, as she continued watching her sister chow down.

"So, what exactly happened?" Eleanor asked.

Jeanette swallowed a large bite, nearly choking when she did. "Oh, Ellie... I'm really afraid that this is the end..."

"Have things gotten that bad?" Eleanor asked.

Jeanette sighed. Eleanor was in for a whirlwind of a story. "Not only has my worst fear happened, but it got even worse than that..."

"You told Roberta you don't want to be in a relationship anymore and she didn't take it well?" Eleanor asked.

"I didn't say anything to Roberta," Jeanette admitted, "but she clearly picked up on how I've been distancing myself from her as a lover... she, um... she... well... we were... trying to intimate the other night... and... well, she was being a little rough, which made me feel uncomfortable, and that had apparently set her off."

"What happened?" Eleanor asked.

"She locked herself in the bathroom the entire night," Jeanette started," and when I finally unlocked the door and went in the next morning... well... there she was, on the floor... she had OD'd on almost everything we had in our medicine cabinet, and I found she had slashed her wrist."

"Oh my god..." Eleanor said.

"Then, to further compound things, I happened upon a book she apparently had been reading in secrecy..." Jeanette continued.

"What's that?" Eleanor asked.

"A relationship book." Jeanette said. "Specifically, a book on how to rekindle a relationship that had lost its romance and spark."

"Oh dear..." Eleanor said.

"And it still gets worse from there..." Jeanette said, "Roberta ended up tying me to one of the kitchen chairs..."

"She did what?!" Eleanor blurted out, interrupting her sister's story.

"She tied me to one of the kitchen chairs." Jeanette repeated.

"Are you serious?!" Eleanor asked.

"Dead serious!" Jeanette said.

"Well, there's no way you're going back there!" Eleanor said.

"I don't know..." Jeanette mumbled.

"No, Jeanette, you can't go back," Eleanor said, "if this is what it's come to, there's no way you can go back to her."

"It's complicated, Ellie..." Jeanette said.

"Jeanette!" Eleanor exclaimed. "Who kind of a person ties their loved one to a chair?!"

"A very clingy, desperate person," Jeanette said, as she continued her story, "I was legitamently scared, Ellie..."

"Well, no wonder!" Eleanor said.

"No, it's not that she tied me to the chair," Jeanette said, "it's what happened afterward, it really scared me... she practically strangled me... her hands got real close to my neck, and she went into this mumbling hysterics about how she's afraid of losing me, and how she needs me."

"Oh god..." Eleanor said, "how can you even possibly consider the idea of going back to her."

Jeanette sat in silence for a moment. "Because... I made a promise to her..."

"What promise?!" Eleanor asked.

"That I would always be there for her." Jeanette said.

Eleanor sadly sighed.

"She's still my best friend, Ellie..." Jeanette admitted, "I don't want to betray that trust..."

"But you can't risk your life after what just happened!" Eleanor said.

"That's why I came here," Jeanette said, "I'm afraid with the frame of mind she's in now that she may end up killing me!"

"How can you say she's still your friend?" Eleanor asked.

"You don't understand her, Ellie," Jeanette said, "she comes from a childhood that was polluted with neglect and abuse, it's really messed her up mentally, emotionally, and psychologically... she has inner demons she has to put up with... kind of like how I did for years after I had been brainwashed into a prostitute... I understood her... but, I'm afraid she's taken that way too far... it's like I'm the only person she has in her life who has given her any kind of normalcy and stability... but it's just gone too far, Ellie... I've gone from being her best friend, from being her lover, to being her lone obsession... she's smothering me... she's suffocating me... I can't take it, Ellie, I just can't... I want to be there for her, like any friend would... but I just can't take being obsessed over anymore..."

All Eleanor could do was sigh and shake her head. She knew her sister was in a pradicament, but she had no idea the sheer magnatude of it.

"That's why this is so difficult for me," Jeanette said, "I'm so torn up right now, Ellie... I don't want to betray Roberta's trust, and I don't want to push her away, and risk hurting her anymore... but I really fear for my life, Ellie... I really do... if she doesn't get some help, I'm afraid she'll kill me if this continues..."

"I hate to say this, Jean," Eleanor said, "but I think the only way out of this is to push her away."

"I couldn't do that!" Jeanette said.

"You have to!" Eleanor insisted. "You just said so yourself, if she doesn't get help for herself, she'll end up killing you! You can't stay with a person like that!"

"But I really do care about her, Ellie!" Jeanette said.

"I know you do, Jean," Eleanor said, "I know she's your best friend, and I know she has alot of problems and issues, and maybe those issues are messing with her mind and maybe deep down she doesn't mean to cause all of this harm... but you shouldn't have to put up with it, and you don't need any of this. You had to get out of there."

The build up of stress had finally boiled over, and Jeanette broke into tears, as Eleanor consoled her.

"Why did I let this happen..." Jeanette said through her tears.

"Don't do this, Jeanette..." Eleanor said.

"I shouldn't have tried to distance myself from her," Jeanette said, "I should have been a better friend to her, and not try to avoid any of her wants, needs, or desires... none of this would have ever happened."

"Don't talk like that Jeanette," Eleanor said, "you did nothing wrong, none of this is your fault. You've already been the best friend you could possibly be... nobody could ask for anything more than that, your true through and through. Roberta shouldn't have taken that to the extremes and treat you more like an obsession than a person."

Jeanette sniffed really loudly. "I suppose I could have done more to keep things peaceful... the sex was becoming uncomfortable for me, but just doing other things together, like going out on the town, or watching movies together, or things likt that weren't so bad... it's just that my new job keeps me so busy, I'm always so tired when I come home..."

"Stop blaming yourself, Jeanette!" Eleanor insisted. "It's not your fault! None of this is your fault! Roberta needs to understand that your only human, and that you have your own wants, needs, and desires that don't necessarily equate with her own! You did the best you could do. That anybody could do in such a situation. But your best wasn't enough for her. You did the right thing by getting out of there. The only way this is ever going to get better is if Roberta gets herself professional help. But even then, this can't go on like this, Jeanette. Maybe you can be friends again, but defintly not lovers. It's clear this isn't a healthy relationship for either of you, and it just won't work out in the long run."

Jeanette sniffed once more. "I just don't know, Ellie..."

Eleanor grabbed Jeanette's face to look her in the eye to get her message through to her. "It's not your fault, Jeanette. You did nothing wrong. You had to put a stop to it and get out of there."

Jeanette broke down once more and reached out to embrace her sister, as Eleanor continued to console and comfort her. Later that afternoon, Eleanor helped Jeanette unpack her car. After several trips up three flights of stairs, both sisters were exhausted and need to relax, as they sat in the livingroom.

"Would you like for me to sleep on the sofa?" Eleanor asked.

"Why?" Jeanette asked.

"I just thought that maybe you'd like to have a bed for yourself for a change." Eleanor offered.

"It's ok," Jeanette said, "no need to put yourself out for me."

All the while, Dennis had driven back to the condo that his little sister shared with Jeanette. They sat in the driveway in front of their condo for a moment.

"So?" Dennis asked.

Roberta sighed and shrugged. "I suppose the only thing to do is like what you guys keep saying... and just talk about it... that's probably the only way we're going to straighten anything out."

Dennis reached over and rubbed the top of Roberta's head like he used to do when they were younger. She looked over at her brother once more with a small smile before getting out of the car and returning to her home while Dennis took off. Roberta entered her condo and called out for Jeanette, but was met with nothing but silence. She could sense something was amiss. She walked about the condo, calling out for Jeanette, and not receiving anything in return. Having a sickening feeling in her gut, Roberta began to go through the bedroom. Jeanette's clothing was missing from the closet. Her unmentionables were missing from the drawers. Her other personal belongings like her photography equipment, her computer, her phone, and other misc items were gone from the room as well. In the bathroom, Jeanette's toothbrush, hair brush, soap, shampoo, makeup, and other personal items were missing.

"No..." Roberta mumbled, as her chin began quivering and her eyes began welling.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" 


	10. The Way It Has to Be

She's Not That Into You Chapter 10: The Way It Has To Be

Even without popping any kind of pills into her mouth, Roberta was seeing the very walls of her life come crashing down around her. The room was spinning, things were fading in and out of focus, light was flickering in and out of darkness. The very thing that made her life worth living was now gone. Without a trace. And she was devastated. She made her way to the door, wobbling her way around the gelatin-like walls, and into the livingroom where she nearly tumbled to the floor. She needed to know what had happened, and she needed to know what was going on. She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her minidress, trying to scroll through her contacts to find Jeanette's number, but her hands and fingers were trembling so bad, one may have assumed she was suffering from Parkinson's Disease, or possibly even having a stroke. She fumbled with her phone in her hands, nearly dropping it at least two times, before she finally managed to scroll to Jeanette's contact. The incredibly shaky finger made it more challenging, but she eventually managed to hit the dial button, as she brought the shaky phone to her ear. Meanwhile, back at Eleanor's apartment, the two sisters were sitting in the livingroom, across the room from one another.

"Really, sis, it's no trouble," Eleanor said, "I can sleep on the sofa for now."

"Don't do that, Ellie," Jeanette insisted, "I don't mind sharing, I've very much gotten used to sharing a bed. As long as I..."

The two were interrupted when Jeanette's phone began ringing, prompting the two to eyeball each other.

"That's not her, is it?" Eleanor asked.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling..." Jeanette removed her phone from her pocket, seeing Roberta's picture, name, and number on the screen, "it is. It's Roberta..."

"Don't answer it." Eleanor said.

Jeanette hesitantly hovered her finger over the screen, unsure of what to do.

"Don't answer it!" Eleanor insisted once more.

Jeanette's finger trembled from anxiety, but after exchanging another look with Eleanor, she swiped the screen of her phone to accept the call, much to Eleanor's dismay.

"No!" Eleanor said. "Don't do this, Jeanette!"

"I can't not give her any kind of closure, Ellie!" Jeanette explained, as she hesitantly brough the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Where are you?!" Roberta wailed on the other end.

"I'm over at my sister's house..." Jeanette explained.

Eleanor shook her head violently, shout-whispering, "she doesn't know where I live, does she?"

"I don't think so." Jeanette shout-whispered back.

"You're gone, aren't you?" Roberta demanded to know. "You left, didn't you? That's why none of your stuff is here. You left me! You left me!"

"No!" Jeanette insisted. "No, I didn't leave you..."

Eleanor did a facepalm, listening to Jeanette's side of the conversation.

"Yes you did!" Roberta wailed. "You wouldn't have taken your stuff with you if you didn't leave me!"

Jeanette sighed. "I just need some space, Roberta."

"That's an old line..." Roberta said, as she stumbled over to the sofa, "that's an old line that people say when they don't want to be with their lover anymore..."

"Things aren't improving between us, Robbie," Jeanette explained, "they're getting worse... and you tying me up and nearly strangling me was the final straw..."

"Who tied you up and nearly strangled you?!" Roberta demanded to know, forgetting about the event that unfolded earlier that afternoon.

"You did!" Jeanette told her. "You tied me to a kitchen chair, and your hands were this close away from my neck, and I could feel your grip growing tighter and tighter, as if you were about to strangle me."

Roberta didn't like hearing that. "I didn't know what I was doing," she said, defending herself, "I wasn't in my right frame of mind, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry..."

"I know you are, Roberta," Jeanette said, "but we can't keep going on like this. This relationship is endangering both of our lives right now. I had to do something..."

Roberta couldn't handle the conversation. She nervously rocked herself back and forth on the sofa. Her box began thumping, so as she continued the conversation with Jeanette, she grabbed her pulsating vagina, clamping a firm grip on it in her hand. "You'll come back though, right?"

Jeanette didn't respond. She simply looked over at Eleanor, unsure of where their conversation currently was, and not knowing what sort of advice to offer.

"Hello?!" Roberta practically screamed into the phone.

"I'm still here." Jeanette said.

Roberta scoffed into the phone, as she squeezed her vagina tighter and tighter. "You're not coming back are you?"

"Not for now, at least, no," Jeanette struggled to say.

Eleanor could sense what that meant, as she winced her eyes shut, burying her face into her hands.

"But you will come back?" Roberta asked.

"Look, Robbie..." Jeanette began, "I think the best thing for us at this point is... is... that we just give each other space..."

"That's all you been doing is creating space between us!" Roberta insisted.

"Robbie..." Jeanette continued, "you clearly need help... I think maybe if you had therapy, you could..."

"Therapy?!" Roberta screamed, interrupting Jeanette. "You say I need therapy?!"

"Your not in your right frame of mind," Jeanette said, "I think if you had some professional help, your life could probably improve drastically... otherwise, things are just really toxic right now, and that's what's really driving a wedge between the two of us more than anything..."

By this time, Roberta was squeezing her vagina like a rubber stress ball. "If I do this... will you come back?"

Again, Jeanette didn't respond.

"You're not coming back, are you?" Roberta asked. "Don't you understand I need you? I can't live without Jeanette! I can't live without you! You're all I got!"

"I'm sorry, Robbie," Jeanette said, as Roberta scoffed at the response, "but it's become clear that any sort of a romantic and sexual relationship between us isn't going to work out in the long run. I really hate to say this, but I probably should have earlier... I just don't love you the same way you love me."

Roberta's brain snapped by this point. She finally heard the one thing she never wanted to hear from Jeanette.

"We can still be friends, can't we?" Jeanette asked, while Eleanor grimmaced and cringed.

Roberta sat in silence.

"I mean, that's how I love you, Roberta, as a friend," Jeanette said, "I'm still your friend, Robbie. I'll always be your friend... you're the best friend I ever had, and I still care about you..."

Roberta still sat in silence.

"Robbie?" Jeanette asked.

"No you don't..." Roberta said, "you don't care about me..."

"Of course I do, Robbie," Jeanette said, "that's why I'm doing this. I want you to seek the help you need so you can improve your life. I don't want to see you destroy yourself, and I don't want to live in fear that you may possibly harm me as well."

"Bullshit!" Roberta said.

"Can't you see I'm trying to support you?" Jeanette said.

"You know what?" Roberta asked. "Don't bother. Don't even bother. You think I need you to heart bleed over me? I don't need you... I don't need anyone! So just don't even bother!"

"Robbie..." Jeanette said.

Roberta ended the call, and through her phone across the room, smashing it against the wall. When Jeanette heard everything go quiet, she too ended her call, before looking over at Eleanor with more tears misting in her eyes.

"I have a really bad feeling about this..." Jeanette whispered.

Eleanor arose from the coffee table, sat next to Jeanette on the sofa, and embraced her. Roberta also arose from her sofa. By this time, she was experiencing another high. But instead of being a drug-induced high, this one was a high brought on by the feelings of a broken heart, a broken spirit, and her very world crumbling down. She couldn't walk straight, and she couldn't see straight. She fell to the floor, and began crawling like a baby down the hallway, pausing briefly when she reached the kitchen. When she looked up, the only thing that came into focus was the oven. That was when she finally made her mind up. 


	11. A Hot Mess

She's Just Not That Into You Chapter 11: A Hot Mess

The day passed on, and soon night had begun to fall, as the skies were slowly growing darker and darker outside. steam billowed out of a small room, as Eleanor walked out into the hall, wearing a green robe that she got from her gym membership. She had just finished taking her evening shower when she called out to her sister who had quickly and hastily moved in with her.

"I'm out Jeanette!" Eleanor said. "Don't worry, I saved some hot water for you!"

There was no response.

"Jeanette?" Eleanor called out, but still received no response.

Eleanor observed her apartment, and saw no sign of her sister. She looked into the livingroom and noticed that the front door was partially opened. Eleanor quickly sprinted across the livingroom to peer out the front door, fearing the worst. She did find her sister, but the sight she saw startled her. Jeanette was leaning over the iron railing of the balcony, nervously smoking a cigarette in her trembling hand.

"Since when do you smoke?" Eleanor asked, startling Jeanette.

"What?" Jeanette asked, nearly jumping out of her skin.

"I said since when do you smoke?" Eleanor asked, more sternly.

"Look," Jeanette said, "I-I only do it w-when I'm n-n-nervous and st-st-stressed, okay?"

Jeanette brought the cigarette back to her lips, but before she could put it back into her mouth for another puff, Eleanor took it, extinguished it into the iron railing, and tossed it away.

"No sister of mine is going to risk lung cancer and emphasima!" Eleanor snapped.

Jeanette sadly sighed, as she dropped her face into her arms that were folded on the iron railing. Eleanor pulled Jeanette back upright, before wrapping her arms around her, and kissing her head.

"Forget about her." Eleanor said, kissing Jeanette's temple.

"Hmm?" Jeanette responded.

"Just forget about Roberta." Eleanor said, kissing Jeanette's temple again.

"I can't Ellie," Jeanette said, on the verge of tears spilling from her eyes again, "I'm really, really worried."

"Don't be." Eleanor said.

"You don't understand," Jeanette said, "who knows what she may be doing to herself right now! She's already slashed her wrist and turned back to drugs because of my neglecting her... who knows what she maybe doing now that I've completely left her!"

"Just put her out of your mind." Eleanor said.

"But, she's my friend Ellie," Jeanette said, a tear finally escaping down her cheek, "she's my best friend."

"Sometimes friends have to go there seperate ways," Eleanor said, "now come on inside, you can have the shower now."

Eleanor manuvered Jeanette back into her apartment. If Roberta's previous actions of slashing her wrist and overdosing on prescription medication because of the neglect she was going through seemed like too much for Jeanette to even handle, she couldn't begin to even imagine just what she was getting herself into now. Back at the desertted condo, Roberta used what little strength she still had left in her to crawl across the floor, dragging herself into the kitchen. After several grueling moments, Roberta made it to the oven. She struggled to find her footing and stand upright, but she finally did. Everything around her had become an indistinguishable blur, except for the oven dial in front of her. She sniffled loudly.

"This is it..." she mumbled to herself, "my angel has foresaken me..."

Roberta brought up a shaky hand, and slowly reached out to grab the oven dial, as her red, bloodshot eyes spilled more tears down the front of her already tearstreaked face. After hesitating for a moment, Roberta finaly turned the dial clockwise, all the way to 600 hundred degrees. Roberta could feel the weight of the world crashing down on her as she quickly dropped to her knees, so hard that the force of her dropping caused pain in her knees. But that didn't faze her.

"I have nobody... I have nobody left in the world..."

She reached up, and pulled the oven door down. She stared into the empty oven for a brief moment, before her vision flickered out, and all senses seem to fly away.

"This is what I deserve."

Her strength fading away, Roberta struggled to climb into the oven, but when she finally did, she closed the oven door behind her, brought her bruised knees up to her chin, wrapped her arms around them, buried her face into her knees, and closed her eyes. 


	12. Stockholm Syndrome

She's Not That Into You Chapter 14: Stockholm Syndrome

Jeanette sat on the sofa in her sister's apartment, while Eleanor was watching some DVR recordings she had of the newscasts from the station Jeanette worked for. As Eleanor continued to watch, she got a sense of how passionate Jeanette was about her work.

"This is really impressive, Jeanette!" Eleanor said, watching her sister's camera work. "You're an artist!"

"I guess." Jeanette mumbled.

"You ought to move out to Hollywood and become a cinematographer for a major motion picture studio," Eleanor suggested, "the way movies are shot today, they could benefit from eyes for detail like your's!"

Jeanette nodded, but she wasn't paying attention at all to what her sister was saying, all she could think about was how she betrayed Roberta. She could just sense that Roberta was probably doing something very irrational at the very moment. Already, just in the past 48 hours, Roberta fell off the wagon and turned to drugs again, and also resorted to self mutilation, and all because she was feeling ignored and neglected by Jeanette. As Jeanette's mind raced, all she could think about it what Roberta could possibly be doing back home. Hanging herself in the closet? Drowning herself in the bathtub? Overdosing on drugs again? Shooting herself in the head? If Roberta did any of those things, Jeanette knew she couldn't live with herself. As she fought back tears, she lept off the sofa and ran into the bedroom.

"I'm sorry, Ellie!" Jeanette said.

"What's wrong?" Eleanor asked.

Jeanette put her coat and shoes on, then grabbed her car keys.

"I have to go back!" Jeanette said, but Eleanor stood firm in the doorway.

"I can't let you do that, Jeanette!" Eleanor said.

With Jeanette's heart, mind, and adrenaline racing, she surprisingly managed to slip past her stronger sister trying to block her from leaving the room.

"I have to, Ellie," Jeanette said, racing for the front door, "if Roberta does anything to kill herself, I'd never be able to live with myself!"

Jeanette dashed out the door, ran down the staircase, and over to her car in the parking lot. Eleanor raced out the door, leaning over the balcony, calling out to her frantic sister.

"Don't do this, Jeanette!" Eleanor said, "nothing good will come from it!"

"Nothing good is coming from me removing myself from the picture either!" Jeanette said as she got into her car and drove off, all the while Eleanor buried her face into her hands and sighed.

Racing down the road, Jeanette had a death grip on the wheel, and was pushing the petal to the metal. She kept praying over and over again that Roberta would be alright and that nothing was happening to her. Faster and faster Jeanette drove, until she finally made it back to the apartment that she and Roberta had been sharing for so long. Jeanette wasted no time in jumping out of the car, unlocking the front door, and running inside.

"Robbie!" Jeanette called out, but no answer were heard. "Oh no! I'm too late!"

Jeanette raced into the bedroom, ripping open the closet door, not finding Roberta in there. She then dashed into the bathroom, which was still in a state of shambles after Roberta's drug-induced night, but Jeanette did not find her in the bathtub. The sounds of Jeanette's heart racing and her heavy breathing was the only thing killing the dead silence in the entire apartment. Jeanette stepped into the open area where the livingroom and the kitchen were divided. "Robbie?" She called out, hopelessly. Nothing. No response. No sign of life anywhere in the apartment. Jeanette's heart bottomed out. She dropped to the sofa, and stared out into the empty livingroom. A picture on the wall caught her eye, she walked over and pulled it off the wall, taking it back to the sofa with her as she studied it. The picture was a silly and goofy one, but was of better and happier times. It was from one of the Christmases they spent together, both wearing Santa hats, and both wearing matching sweaters that were incredibly loud and ugly, and even featured a joke written on the front of them reading 'Proper Christmas Attire.' Both of them had their arms around each other, both of them raising glasses of egg nog for the camera, both of them wearing goofy smiles on their faces, and both of them happy and festive.

"Oh, Robbie..." Jeanette mumbled, as the tears spilled from her eyes. Jeanette clutched the picture to her chest tightly, as she wept, so knowing that Roberta probably ran off somewhere, not knowing where, and ended her life.

Although Roberta was intending to end her life, it was spared. While their stovetop worked, their oven had been broken for many months. Roberta had forgotten all about it as she sat in the oven almost unharmed. While there was no heat in the oven cooking her, she was running out of air, and was nearly slipping away due to lack of oxygen, but the muffled sounds of weeping and sobbing entered her ears. Dazed and confused, Roberta pushed open the oven door, falling out onto the kitchen floor. After taking a second to pull herself together enough to stand upright, she heard the weeping and sobbing more clearly, realizing it was coming from the livingroom. With still abit of unsteadiness in her walk, Roberta made her way into the livingroom, and was surprised to find Jeanette sitting on the sofa, clutching the photo, and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Jeanette?" Roberta spoke up.

Jeanette nearly jumped out of her skin, dropping the photo on the coffee table, causing the glass to shatter into numerous tiny pieces. Much like Roberta, Jeanette couldn't believe her eyes either. Seeing Roberta standing, although rather shaky, and looking very distraught, Jeanette leapt off the sofa as the two ran to each embrace each other tightly. Now both of them were sobbing uncontrollably. Roberta could not believe that Jeanette had come back, and Jeanette could not believe that Roberta was still alive. They clung to each other tightly as they continued shedding tears. The two of them made a mutual agreement to each other, Jeanette agreed to go to couple's therapy and have their relationship evaluated for Roberta's sake, while Roberta agreed to see a psychiatrist and have her mentality evaluated for Jeanette's sake. Back at Eleanor's apartment, Eleanor had dialed the number to Brittany's estate.

"You have reached the Miller Mansion," a voice with a posh English accent said when answering the phone, "I'm afraid Miss Miller is unable to take any calls at this point, but if you leave your name with us, she will see if she can work in sometime to get back to you in the future."

"Please let me speak to Brittany," Eleanor insisted, "this is her sister, Eleanor, she'll surly take my call."

"I'm afraid I cannot just ask Miss Miller to break away from her activities for petty little problems." The servant answering the phone told her.

"I assure you it's hardly a petty little problem," Eleanor said, "this is an urgent family matter that requires her immediate attention. Please let me speak to her."

"I'll see what I can do, but I will not make any promises." The servant said.

Eleanor waited for several moments before she finally heard her sister's voice on the other end.

"What's going on, Ellie?" Brittany asked.

"Plenty," Eleanor said, "Jeanette's in alot of trouble, and I haven't been able to help her, I think I'm going to need some backup from you, we need an intervention."

"Trouble? Backup? Intervention?" Brittany asked. "What in the world are you talking about? What has Jeanette gotten herself into?"

"It's a really long story," Eleanor said, "you remember Roberta?"

"Eww! That dyke?" Brittany cringed. "Thank god Donald Trump is president now so we can get rid of disgusting lesbos like her!"

"Nevermind that Brit," Eleanor said, "things are really, really bad between her and Jeanette right now, and I need you to help me."

"Don't tell me that sick freak is chasing after Jeanette again!" Brittany said.

"Brittany?" Eleanor said. "She and Jeanette have been together for over three years now."

"WHAT!" Brittany screamed. "My sister became a dyke! Why didn't anybody tell me!"

"Because Jeanette knew you wouldn't approve," Eleanor said, "that's why she's been keeping it a secret from you all these years, and she also swore me to secrecy."

"Disgusting!" Brittany said. "I can't believe my own sister was seduced by that dyke and became one herself!"

"No, Brittany!" Eleanor said. "Jeanette wants out, that's the problem!"

"The problem is that sick freak exists!" Brittany said.

"Brittany, listen to me," Eleanor said, "Jeanette doesn't want to be in this relationship anymore, and that's the problem! Roberta is really posessive and practically smothering Jeanette, and she wants out! I tried to get Jeanette leave once before, but she was so eaten up with guilt that she went back. I think we need an intervention to get Jeanette out of there."

"You said it!" Brittany said. "We need to save Jeanette from this evil, brainwashing cult! I'll be there as soon as possible!"

With that, Brittany and Eleanor hung up. Brittany was absolutely fuming over the situation, but Eleanor began to feel abit of guilt herself for betraying Jeanette's trust by revealing her secrets to Brittany, but Eleanor felt this was for Jeanette's own good. She needed backup from her sisters since she clearly isn't strong enough to get out of the situation on her own.


	13. Breaking Points

She's Not That Into You Chapter 15: Breaking Points

Realizing that Roberta was not in good shape, Jeanette decided to do her friend a favor and take her to the hospital for urgent care. Once they arrived at the hospital and Roberta was taken to a room, she was given a plasma I.V. for her massive blood loss as well as dehydration from where she had gone for nearly 48 hours without anything consumption. She was also heavily sedated following the mass hysteria she had been in during the same amount of time. Because of the drugs that were in her system, the medical staff decided that she needed a day or two to detoxify her system. Through it all, Jeanette decided to stay by her side. Early the next morning, Eleanor received a knock at her apartment door, and was surprised by Brittany's horrifying appearance: her hair was messy and unkempt like a bad wig, her makeup made her look sick and ghastly, and she was wearing a pair of oversized pajamas with cartoon characters on them.

"I'm here, are you ready?" Brittany asked.

"What in the world is wrong with you?" Eleanor asked.

"What?" Brittany asked.

"What happened to you?" Eleanor asked. "You look like you just barely survived a hurricane full of ghosts!"

"I didn't want to take any chances," Brittany explained, "I tried to make sure I looked as unattractive as I could to avoid giving my former sister and her partner any lady boners!"

"Do you hear how ridiculous you sound?" Eleanor said. "And how can you say Jeanette is your 'former sister'? She's always your sister, always will be!"

"No sister of mine is a dirty dyke!" Brittany said. "That's why we need to save her from this evil cult that she's been brainwashed into!"

"Really, Brit?" Eleanor asked. "You were less frantic about Jeanette having been brainwashed as a prostitute all those years ago, and she really was brainwashed."

"That was different," Brittany argued, "at least she was sleeping with guys."

"This is completely insane," Eleanor said, "Jeanette's in a toxic relationship that she wants out of, and all you can do is make idiotic and childish arguements based on your own homophobia."

Brittany sighed. "No offense, Eleanor, but people like you, and my former sister, are just too ignorant about how dangerous creatures like Roberta are to our very country. That's why our new president is going to get rid of the lot of them and make our country great again!"

"Do you want to help Jeanette or not?" Eleanor demanded to know.

"Why are we wasting our time argueing about it?" Brittany asked. "Let's go!"

After Eleanor changed out of her pajamas and into her normal clothing, she and Brittany drove off to the apartment that Jeanette and Roberta shared. When they finally arrived, Brittany fought off wave after wave of nausea before they stormed inside, but when they did, they didn't find anybody. No sign of Jeanette, and no sign of Roberta, no sign of life of any form in the apartment.

"Where are they?" Eleanor asked.

"How would I know?" Brittany asked.

"Oh god, I hope Roberta didn't end up killing Jeanette and is trying to dispose of her body somewhere!" Eleanor said.

"You really think something like that would happen?" Brittany asked.

"Jeanette told me Roberta had her tied to a chair and was literally about to strangle her, which is what finally drove her away in the first place!" Eleanor said.

"Why would she do that?" Brittany asked.

"Because she's unstable!" Eleanor said. "I told Jeanette not to go back, but... her heart is just too big, she was afraid Roberta might do something irrational..."

Eleanor reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

"What are you doing?" Brittany asked.

"I'm calling Jeanette's number to see if anybody will answer." Eleanor said, as she dialed Jeanette's number.

A phone was ringing back in Eleanor's bedroom. It was Jeanette's. Jeanette left in such a hurry the night before that she didn't take anything with her that she had brought over to Eleanor's apartment, including her phone. As the phone kept ringing and ring, the look of horror on Eleanor's face grew more and more intense, until, finally, a robotic voice informed Eleanor that her call could not be completed and that she was being redirected to an automated voicemail.

"Jeanette?" Eleanor said, leaving a message, "are you there? Jeanette where are you? Are you okay? Jeanette, answer the phone! Answer the phone right now, Jeanette! Jeanette? Jeanette?"

"Isn't she answering?" Brittany asked.

"No, nothing, I just got her voicemail!" Eleanor said.

"Oh my god, Roberta killed our sister!" Brittany said.

"What are we going to do?" Eleanor asked.

"What can we do?" Brittany asked. "We don't know where she's taken her or what she's done with the body, or where to even look!"

"Maybe we should stay here?" Eleanor suggested. "I mean, Roberta's got to come back eventually."

"Unless she decides to skip town and flee." Brittany said.

"I didn't even think of that!" Eleanor said. "This is so bad... what happened to Jeanette? Where is she?"

Jeanette was at the hospital. After all of the excitement had worn off and Jeanette was able to think more clearly, she realized that she had left Eleanor's apartment without changing into any suitable clothes to wear, and she also realized that she didn't have anything on her of importance, such as her phone or drivers license. A nurse entered the room to check on Roberta's I.V.

"Excuse me?" Jeanette asked. "Do you know how much longer Roberta will be sleeping off her sedation?"

"Oh, it could be another few hours or so," the nurse said, changing another bag of plasma, "the doctors gave her a pretty strong sedative to calm her down."

"Oh, okay, good," Jeanette said, "I need to run and get some things, but I'll be back directly."

"Very well," the nurse said, "she's in good care."

Back at the apartment, Eleanor came running out of the bathroom into the livingroom, the color completely drained from her face, and a look her eyes as if she had seen a ghost.

"What's wrong?" Brittany asked. "What is it?"

"There's blood everywhere in the bathroom!" Eleanor said.

"Oh my god..." Brittany squeaked.

"I bet Roberta killed Jeanette," Eleanor began, "then drug her into the bathroom, cut her into a million tiny pieces, flushed all of her organs and stuff down the toilet, then took her bones and is burying them somewhere to get rid of all the evidence she can!'

"You think Roberta is capable of doing all of that?" Brittany asked.

"From the way Jeanette's been talking about her lately, I bet it's possible!" Eleanor said. "I've heard of people doing things like this before.

"What are we going to do now?" Brittany asked.

"Call the police!" Eleanor said. "If Roberta killed Jeanette and is trying to hide the evidence, we can't let her get away with this!"

Eleanor pulled her phone from her pocket and began to dial the emergency line when the front door opened, and Jeanette entered the apartment. She was surprised to find her sisters.

"What are you two doing here?" Jeanette asked.

Both Brittany and Eleanor nearly jumped out of their skin, but were releaved to see that Jeanette was alive. Eleanor ran over to Jeanette and nearly tackled her to the ground.

"Oh my god Jeanette," Eleanor wept, "I thought you were dead!"

"No, I'm very much alive." Jeanette said. "What's going on?"

"Well, we thought you were dead," Eleanor said, "we couldn't find you, we tried calling you, you didn't answer, I found all of that blood in the bathroom, we thought..."

"Slow down, slow down, Eleanor," Jeanette said, "I've been at the hospital all this time, I left my phone back at your place, and that's Roberta's blood in the bathroom, not mine."

"Oh good, so you killed her instead?" Brittany asked.

"What are you talking about?" Jeanette asked. "I didn't kill her. She slashed her wrist the other night, that's why there's all that blood in the bathroom."

"Did you take her to the hospital?" Eleanor asked.

"Yes," Jeanette said, "they're giving her some plasma for the blood loss, as well as dehydration, they've got her sedated for the time being to try to calm her down, and they're detoxifying her body from her drug overdose the other day."

"Fucking faggot." Brittany said.

"Brittany!" Jeanette snapped.

"Don't Brittany me!" Brittany snapped back. "I think it's disgusting that you became a lesbo yourself!"

"I'm not a 'lesbo' Brittany," Jeanette insisted, "I've been trying to get out of this relationship for awhile now."

"But you obviously became a lesbo at some point to get into this un-natural and un-normal relationship in the first place!" Brittany argued.

"Oh Britt!" Jeanette moaned.

"Britt's over-reaction aside," Eleanor said, "we are here to intervene, Jeanette."

"I agree I think an intervention is needed in this situation," Jeanette said, "my trying to talk to Roberta hasn't worked, neither has her older brother trying to talk to her, so we've both agreed to seek therapy."

"You both agreed?" Eleanor asked. "You mean your actually going to try to save this relationship now after all that's happened?"

"I didn't say that," Jeanette argued, "I only agreed to couple's therapy on the condition that Roberta agree to see a psychiatrist for mental and emotional therapy."

Eleanor buried her face into her hands. "Why can't you just make a clean break, Jeanette? That's what Brittany and I are trying to do for you, is help you make a clean break."

"It's not that simple girls," Jeanette said, "making a clean break isn't really going to solve anything as long as Roberta doesn't get the help that she needs, and she's the one who needs help more than I do... and I can see that with the possible exception of her brother Dennis, I'm the only one concerned about seeing that she gets the help she needs."

"Your disgusting." Brittany said.

"What's disgusting about wanting to help a friend in need Brittany?" Jeanette snapped.

"Because you shouldn't even be friends with a dyke anyway!" Brittany argued. "Just look at all the trouble it's caused for all of us!"

"Just because Roberta is gay doesn't mean she deserves to be treated like shit Brittany!" Jeanette argued back. "Not to mention I certainly don't deserve to be treated like shit by you either!"

"You brought this on yourself!" Brittany argued.

"Brought what on myself?" Jeanette asked. "My own sister treating me like shit, how did I bring this on myself? I always looked up to you Brittany! You always supported and encouraged me! Now your treating me like shit just because my friend happens to be gay, which bothers you since you happen to be homophobic!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Eleanor said, breaking up the arguement. "Look Brittany, Jeanette's right, this isn't the time or place for you to let your insecurities about Roberta's orientation and whatever activities she and Jeanette have engaged in make you lose control!"

"Engaged in activities?" Brittany asked before looking at Jeanette with even more disgust on her face. "You mean to say that you and Roberta have actually had sex with each other?"

"Would you actually think less of me, your own sister, if I had?" Jeanette asked.

"Your no sister of mine if you had!" Brittany said.

"Stop it!" Eleanor said.

Jeanette's stress level erupted, and she finally let all hell break loose with Brittany. "Fine then Brittany! If you wish to disown me because of your own stupid shit, then go ahead! Disown me! Yes, Roberta has been my best friend since highschool! Yes, I've been in a relationship with Roberta for three years! Yes, Roberta and I have had sex on multiple occasions! If all of that bothers you so much that you would disown me as your sister, then go ahead!"

"Calm down Jeanette..." Eleanor said, trying to intervene again, but Jeanette could not be contained.

By this point, Jeanette was nearly screaming at the top of her lungs, her face was turning red, and tears were flooding her eyes, as she continued her verbal tounge lashing at Brittany. "Your the one who's disgusting Brittany that you would disown your own sister over her choice of a friend! This cuts me like a knife Brittany to think that you would disown me over something like this! You have no idea how much this hurts and angers me to think you would do this, because I used to be able to always turn to you whenever I was in need, I used to always be able to come to you whenever I had a problem, I used to always be able to look up to you! You were always there for me whenever I needed you... and your willing to throw all of that away because I happen to have a gay friend?"

"Not just that!" Brittany continued to argue. "You've been sleeping with her!"

"That bothers you?" Jeanette screamed. "I don't remember you being this upset when I was a brainwashed prostitute and sleeping with hundreds of different men for years until you saved me!"

"At least you were sleeping with men," Brittany said, "that's normal. That's natural."

Jeanette's face and eyes were blood red at this point. Not only did tears continue to flood out of her eyes, but she was also beginning to foam at the mouth. "Get out!"

"What?" Brittany asked.

"Get out!" Jeanette screamed. "I can't believe you would do this to me, after all we've been through together as a family! I never want to see you again as long as I live!"

"Fine with me!" Brittany said, as she walked out the front door, but not before leaving Jeanette with a few more parting words, "if you ask me, it sounds like your the one who needs mental and emotional therapy."

"GO!" Jeanette screamed.

Brittany left. Now Eleanor was feeling like shit. She thought having Brittany as backup would help Jeanette with her situation with Roberta, but instead, it just everything worse. All she wanted to do was help. Jeanette through herself ontop of the sofa, buring her face into a cushion, and began wailing. Eleanor walked over, placing her hand on Jeanette's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Jeanette," Eleanor said, "this is all my fault, I thought you needed a little extra help, but I really didn't think Brittany would be this ugly about it."

"Just leave me alone!" Jeanette said through the pillow.

"I just wanted to help Jeanette." Eleanor insisted.

"I know that," Jeanette said, breaking away from her sobbing, "but just let me figure everything else for myself from now on, okay?"

"Does this mean you never want to see me again either?" Eleanor asked.

Jeanette wiped the tears from her eyes and nose. "No Ellie, I know you were only trying to help... but like I said, just let me handle this on my own, okay?"

"Okay." Eleanor said. "If you want to come get your stuff out of my apartment, I'll understand..."

Jeanette sat up and tried to regain her composure. "Well, I should probably change into some more appropriate clothing before I go back out..."

"Come on." Eleanor said. 


	14. Getting Back on Track

She's Not That Into You Chapter 16: Getting Back on Track

After Jeanette got herself a change of clothes and picked up her phone from Eleanor's apartment, she returned to the hospital to find that Roberta was still incredibly groggy from sleeping off the sedative she had been given. She excused herself into a corridor, and scrolled through her phone's history to find Dennis' number to update him on what is going on.

"Hello?" Dennis answered.

"Hey Dennis," Jeanette answered, "it's Jeanette. Your not busy are you?"

"No, I'm on my break," Dennis said, "what's up?"

Jeanette sighed. "I just wanted to let you know about Roberta being in the hospital..."

"Oh, gee..." Dennis moaned, "what happened?"

"Well, after all she's been through these past couple of days, what with slashing her wrist, overdosing on drugs, and everything else, I figured she could use some medical attention." Jeanette said.

"Well, that was considerate of you." Dennis said.

"For the time being," Jeanette continued, "they've got her hooked up to plasma, they're detoxifying her, and they also have her sedated because she's been so erratic lately."

"Maybe I'll drop by after work to see how she's doing." Dennis said.

"I was hoping you would say that, Jeanette said, "I was also kind of hoping you'd sort of 'trade shifts' with me for the time being, I really don't feel comfortable with leaving her alone right now."

"We'll see," Dennis said, "I've got to get back to work, I'll see you sometime tonight."

"Thanks, bye." Jeanette and Dennis hung up.

Later that afternoon, Eleanor phoned Brittany again, and was met with a familar posh accent that had answered her call the other day.

"You have reached the Miller Mansion," the posh-accented voice said, "I am afraid Miss Miller is unable to take any calls at this point..."

Eleanor interrupted the servant's practiced and rehersed answering service, "Look, this is her sister Eleanor again, and if you don't put Brittany on the phone this instant, I'll see to it that you never work in this town again!"

"Is that a promise?" The voice asked her.

"Just get her!" Eleanor barked.

"One moment, please." The voice said.

Several minutes later, Brittany finally answered the phone, "what's going on now?"

"I want to give you a little history lesson Brittany!" Eleanor said.

"You had me pulled away from a very important contract negotiation to give me a history lesson?" Brittany asked. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Brittany," Eleanor began, "do you remember when we were in highschool, and Jeanette went missing for years?"

"Yeah." Brittany said.

"Remember that nobody knew what happened to her, or where she was, or if we would ever see her again?" Eleanor asked.

"Yeah." Brittany said.

"Remember how devastated we were at losing our sister?" Eleanor asked.

"Yeah." Brittany said.

"Remember how you found her and saved her, and how happy we were to have her back in our lives?" Eleanor asked.

"Yeah." Brittany said.

"She had been brainwashed into being a prostitute all those years Brittany!" Eleanor said. "She was selling herself for sex all those years, and she'd probably still be doing so if you hadn't found her and saved her! And your willing to forget all about that and completely erase her out of your life entirely just because she was in a relationship with a girl she no longer even wants to be in a relationship with?"

"Yeah." Brittany said.

"Did you just seriously say 'yeah' to erasing Jeanette out of your life entirely for being ina relationship with a girl, after all those years of sorrow we endured with her being missing because she was being brainwashed into a prostitute?" Eleanor asked.

"Yeah, look, whatever," Brittany said, "I have no time for all of this family drama, I got contracts to go over, songs to write, albums to record, and appearances to make."

"What happened to you Brittany?" Eleanor asked.

"Look, I gotta go, we'll talk another time." Brittany said before hanging up.

Eleanor tossed her phone aside. She was beginning to think Brittany had been corrupted by the evils of Hollywood. As evening fell, Dennis arrived at the hospital to meet up with Roberta and Jeanette. After being directed to Roberta's room, he found his little sister still sleeping off her sedation, with Jeanette sitting by her side, browsing through her phone.

"Hey." Dennis said, quietly.

"Hey," Jeanette said, "thanks for coming."

"Is she still asleep?" Dennis asked.

"Yeah," Jeanette said, "I think they must have given her a really strong sedative, she's been out of it for much of the day."

Jeanette and Dennis stepped back out into the cooridor to further their discussion.

"Do you think my conversations with her yesterday had any affect?" Dennis asked.

"Not at all," Jeanette said, "as a matter of fact, I... I... I ran out on her while you two were out yesterday..."

"Really?" Dennis asked, then sighed. "I guess you really couldn't take it anymore, could you?"

"No, I couldn't," Jeanette said, "but when she called me while I was over at my sister's house, and hearing how upset and angered and saddened she was... I felt so guilty, I was afraid she would kill herself... so I went back..."

Dennis shook his head. "I don't know what can be done for her unless she got herself some serious therapy."

"Actually, that's something we both agreed to," Jeanette said, "I agreed to couple's therapy if she agreed to get herself some therapy for herself."

"You really think a therapist can save this relationship?" Dennis asked.

"No, I really don't," Jeanette said, "but it was the only way I could get Roberta to agree to seek therapy for herself."

"I guess you have to do what you have to do." Dennis said. "I really hope she can get herself some serious help. I'd hate for anything worse to happen to her."

"Dennis?" Jeanette asked. "I know you guys didn't necessarily have a normal life growing up... but... how... how is it that you aren't as psychologically messed up as she is?"

Dennis shrugged. "I really don't know. Our parents never really seemed to abuse me as much as they did her..."

"Hopefully somebody out there can help her move past this." Jeanette said.

"Yeah." Dennis said.

Jeanette and Dennis stepped back into Roberta's room, and Roberta was slowly beginning to awaken from her state of sedation.

"How long have I been out of it?" Roberta asked.

"Almost an entire 24-hour period." Jeanette said.

"Really?" Roberta asked before groaning. "No wonder I feel like I just slept for the first time in weeks..."

"Gee, you little shrimp" Dennis began joking, "seems like everytime I look up, your in the hospital."

"Seems like everytime I look up, your sneaking away from work." Roberta joked back.

"Hey, my shift ended about an hour ago, it's almost 7:00." Dennis said.

"At night?" Roberta asked.

"Yep." Dennis said.

"How long have I been here?" Roberta asked.

"I brought you last night, remember?" Jeanette asked.

"Barely." Roberta said with a yawn. "How much longer am I going to be here?"

"I don't even really know," Jeanette said, "I guess until they feel your stable enough to leave."

"Gee," Roberta moaned, "I guess I'm going to have to request time off from work again... don't think the boss will be too pleased about that."

"Yeah, I doubt my boss would let me take any time off right now either," Jeanette said, "I kinda don't want to let you out of my sight right now..."

"Frankly, I'm a little nervous about that myself." Dennis added.

"Why do you just babysit me like you used to?" Roberta joked to Dennis.

"I may just have to do that." Dennis joked back.

Despite the reservations that both Jeanette and Dennis had for leaving Roberta alone, they were assured by the hospital staff that she would be checked on regularly. After nightfall, both Jeanette and Dennis went home for the evening, and as the work week resumed, Jeanette had trouble focusing at work. At the news studio, an interview was being recorded for a live broadcast between one of the anchors, and a special guest who was promoting a new book he had published. Three cameras were rolling, and Jeanette was on camera 1, which was focused on the guest, but she was so worried about Roberta, that she wasn't aware of the voice crackling over her headset from the control room when the guest held up his book.

"Camera 1," the control room director's voice crackled over the headset, "get a close-up of that book."

Jeanette wasn't aware of her directions.

"Camera 1," the director repeated, "get a close-up of that book."

Again, Jeanette was totally oblivious to her surroundings.

"Is anyone working camera 1 down there?" The director asked.

A fellow camera operator who was on camera 3 in the middle looked over and saw Jeanette not doing anything. He quickly stepped over and readjusted Jeanette's close-up shot, which broke her back to reality.

"What's wrong with you today?" The other camera operator asked in a whisper.

"Sorry," Jeanette whispered, "I've been having problems at home lately..."

The problems at home lately were beginning to create a strain for Jeanette, but she tried her best to pull through. Later that evening, after a less than ideal day at work, Jeanette returned to the hospital. Roberta had finished detoxifying, was rehydrated, had her slashed wristed treated, and the hospital considered her condition stable enough that they felt confident in releasing her. While driving home, Jeanette made a pitstop in a secluded area that offered a sweeping view of the city of Los Angeles. Before going home, Jeanette wanted to make sure that she and Roberta had a clear understanding about everything.

"Before we go home," Jeanette said, shutting the car off, "I... I want to talk..."

Roberta nodded knowingly, "what about?"

"I think you know what about," Jeanette said, "Robbie... I know you may not want to... but, I'm really hoping that your going to keep up your end of the deal for me, as I intend to do the same for you."

"You mean therapy?" Roberta asked.

"Yes," Jeanette said, "while you were sedated in the hospital, Dennis and I were talking about things, and he and I both feel that you really need help."

Roberta didn't respond. She turned to look out the window at the view instead.

"We're not doing this to attack you, Robbie," Jeanette said, "we're both very, very worried about you... we don't want to see anything bad happen to you. Dennis doesn't want to lose his sister, and I certainly don't want to lose my best friend..."

Roberta sighed through her nose. Jeanette reached out and placed her hand on Roberta's shoulder.

"I know this hurts Robbie," Jeanette said, "but the only way you can move forward is to realize that what happened in the past is past, and that your future is your's."

Roberta turned to face Jeanette. "And what about our future?"

Jeanette shrugged. "Like I said, I intend to go through couple's therapy for you if you seek therapy for your own self as well."

Roberta didn't respond.

"Does anything I'm saying to you make any sense at all?" Jeanette asked.

Roberta nodded. "Yes, it does. And I agree... I'll get help."

"Good." Jeanette said. She started up the car again, and drove for home.

The following morning, Jeanette made the necessary appointments for herself and Roberta. Roberta had a session with respected psychologist, Dr. Rutter Wisenheimer, while she and Jeanette would see a couple's therapist later in the week. That afternoon, Roberta visited elderly Dr. Wisenheimer, whose once brown hair had streaks of silver in it, and her face exhibited a few more wrinkles. Roberta laid across the couch, as went over her entire life story with Dr. Wisenheimer. She recalls she was adopted by a pair of seemingly nice enough parents with an already older son, but that the dream of having a family quickly turned into a nightmare. Through-out much of her critical years, Roberta spent most of her time being locked in her small and dark bedroom. Dennis, already infatuated with his new little chipmunk sister would often try to play with her whenever their parents weren't around, which was the most human contact the young Roberta would receive on a daily basis. Otherwise, whenever her parents did have contact with her, it was almost always abusive. Roberta did poorly in school, and whenever she brought home report cards with poor grades, her parents would beat her and ground her, removing almost every recreational item she had in her room. If Roberta ever did the slightest little thing that bothered her parents - chewing with her mouth open, wearing noisy shoes, playing with her hair - the beating would commense. While Dennis hated seeing his sister treated this way, he was too afraid to see the authorities, for fear that it would mean he and Roberta would be split up and placed into foster care. As they grew older, Dennis took on the role of raising Roberta himself, as their parents were mostly slackers who often left their children to fend for themselves. Dennis would help Roberta with her homework, would make small meals for her, and take her to school. In addition to doing poorly in school, Roberta also didn't make friends very well, often reclusing herself from her peers, and hardly speaking a single word to anybody, which made her seem virtually invisible. That is until she was in junior high, and she caught the attention of a few bad seeds, who introduced her to drugs and self-mutiliation, and as a pre-teen going through puberty, Roberta would often combat the abuse she endured at home by drugging and cutting herself. While Dennis wasn't a model student himself, he didn't like seeing Roberta harm herself as such, and as they both continued to grow, he would do what he could to get Roberta to get off the drugs and stop cutting herself. As a teenager, Roberta surprisingly reached physical maturity that would often make other girls envious, but would also attract unwanted attention from boys who would try to hit on her. Roberta didn't trust people who took interest in her, because she was sure they had something up their sleeve. At the same time, she also quickly came to realize that despite boys always being attracted to her, she actually had an attraction to girls. Dennis was the only one she told this to, knowing if she told either of her parents, they probably not only would beat her, they would probably kick her out as well. Because she often reclused herself over the years, Roberta developed an interest in reading fiction, because the fanciful stories she would read would make her long for a more ideal life. She often spent time in the school library, and when she was finally old enough to leave home and never look back, she decided to take a job at a bookstore, so she could be surrounded by books all day. For almost a year, Roberta would sleep on park benches, or under freeway overpasses, until she save dup enough money to get herself a small, yet liveable apartment. Dr. Wisenheimer was astounded at Roberta's life story. It was clear that so much of Roberta's problems were, indeed, brought on by the years of abuse she endured growing up, but she could also sense that Roberta also had an underlying sense of independence, which she believes is what makes her a little headstrong, but also rough around the edges. Dr. Wisenheimer decided to schedule further sessions with Roberta to see if they could work on strengthening her independence and weaken her inner demons. 


	15. Expert Opinions

She's Not That Into You Chapter 17: Expert Opinions

The following afternoon, Jeanette and Roberta attended the initial appointment they had with a couple's therapist who came highly recommended, one Dr. Joan Davis. Dr. Davis was a lovely middle aged woman with thick, curly, red hair, and a trim yet lady like figure. Because she has experience in helping same sex couples, Jeanette and Roberta decided that she maybe the ideal therapist to seek out for their relationship problems. Jeanette and Roberta's appointment had been scheduled for an hour, but it took nearly 45 minutes just for the two of them to give Dr. Davis their separate sides of the story, after which, Dr. Davis knew this was going to be a tough case, and wasn't even sure where to begin. Dr. Davis began shaking her head.

"Is something wrong?" Jeanette asked.

"Where do we even begin?" Dr. Davis asked.

Dr. Davis's phone rang as she received a call from her receptionist. Her following 3:30 appointment had to cancel suddenly. She took the news in stride, because she figured this would allow her to extend the appointment with Jeanette and Roberta, since they apparently really needed it.

"It would seem my following 3:30 appointment has cancelled on me," Dr. Davis told them as she hung up her phone, "this may allow us an extra hour or so to continue evalutating your case."

"Oh?" Jeanette and Roberta said at the same time.

"Do you believe we would need to do that?" Jeanette asked.

Dr. Davis nodded, "it's up to you, but I believe it would be most beneficial to both of you."

"If it will help, I say we should do it." Roberta said.

"Very well," Dr. Davis said, as she got up from behind her desk, and brought her chair closer to the two chipettes sitting on the leather sofa to get a little more personal with them, "now, having heard your story from both sides, I have to say that in all my 26 years of counceling couples, including same sex couples, I have never come across a case quite like this."

"Is it that bad?" Jeanette asked.

Dr. Davis leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "You want me to give it to you truthfully."

Both Jeanette and Roberta nodded together, "yes."

"Very well," Dr. Davis said again, "it is in my both upmost professional and profoundly personal opinion that this relationship is poisoning the both of you, and it should not continue any further than it already has."

Roberta was dumbfounded, "what?"

"See?" Jeanette said to Roberta. "This is what I've been telling you. I've told you this, your brother told you this, my sisters told you this, and now a relationship expert has told you this."

"Just settle down for a minute, Jeanette," Dr. Davis said, "because it's also within my professional and personal opinion that your just as much at fault as Roberta is about the entire situation."

"Excuse me?" Jeanette asked.

"Did you not just tell me earlier that you had never really intended on starting a romantic and sexual relationship with Roberta?" Dr. Davis asked.

"Yes, good memory." Jeanette said.

"And did you not tell me that you never felt any kind of feeling or connection to Roberta other than strictly on a platonic, friendship level?" Dr. Davis asked.

"Yes, I did say that. Jeanette said.

"Now let me ask you then," Dr. Davis said, "why did you get into this relationship in the first place if it was never your intention, nor did you ever feel anything for Roberta beyond just a platonic friendship?"

Roberta listened intently to Jeanette's explanation, though Jeanette was at a loss for words.

"I don't know..." Jeanette mumbled.

"That's not an answer, Jeanette." Dr. Davis said.

"I really don't..." Jeanette continued, "I suppose... maybe... maybe I was a little bi curious at the time?"

"You mean you may feel there was an initial attraction at first?" Dr. Davis asked.

"Well, Roberta is very attractive," Jeanette said, "she's very pretty, very beautiful, and I can understand why unsavory guys regularly try to come onto her. But, just that alone isn't a basis for a healthy or longterm relationship..."

"So I ask again, why did you get into this relationship in the first place?" Dr. Davis asked.

Jeanette sat silently for a few moments, until she finally confessed her true intentions. "I suppose I felt sorry for her."

"Sorry for her?" Dr. Davis asked.

"I suppose so," Jeanette said, "I know Roberta had a crush on me since we met in highschool..."

Roberta nodded truthfully.

"And I also know that given her the life she's lived growing up and into today that she's had trust issues," Jeanette continued, "and I've really been one of the only friends she's ever had..."

"That's true." Roberta said.

"Roberta has dated other people in the past," Jeanette continued, "and they never seemed to last..."

"I've never been able to find the right kind of person." Roberta said.

"And... well..." Jeanette continued, "I hate to say this, but I also feel that Roberta was kinda underselling herself in a small way to try and pressure me into becoming more than just friends with her..."

Dr. Davis turned to Roberta, "is this true?"

Roberta hung her head in shame.

"Like I said," Jeanette continued, "taking all of that into consideration, I just felt so sorry for her. Like any friend would, I just wanted to make her happy... I thought maybe perhaps if I caved and gave into her, that would make her happy. Like I said, because we were already such close friends, and I do admit that she is very attractive, I thought that the transition wouldn't be so awkward."

"But the fact remains that your feelings for Roberta were never anything more that strictly as a platonic friend?" Dr. Davis asked.

"Yes," Jeanette said, "and as the years have past, and the relationship aged, it became more and more clear to me that I made a mistake for both of us."

Roberta continued to sit with her head hung in shame, as tears began spilling from her eyes. Dr. Davis took a box of tissues from the top of her desk, and handed them to Roberta. Roberta wiped her eyes and blew her nose. Now Jeanette was feeling tremendously guilty about putting all of that out in the open.

"Roberta?" Dr. Davis asked, "why was being in a romantic and sexual relationship with Jeanette so important to you?"

Roberta sniffed and blinked back tears as she went on with her explanation, "because I really and truely felt like Jeanette was my soul mate."

"Platonic friends can be soul mates without romance or sex." Jeanette offered up.

"Jeanette, it's Roberta's turn." Dr. Davis said. "Go ahead, Roberta."

"No, I really mean it," Roberta said, "I really felt like she was my soul mate. I've had a small number of other friends over the years, yes, and I have dated other women before, that's true. But none of them showed me the same level of compassion, consideration, and love that Jeanette has... and just the same, I very much felt an attraction to her, because of how pretty and cute she is... my heart fell in love with her."

Now Jeanette was the one hanging her head in shame and feeling guilty.

Dr. Davis began shaking her head again. "This is why I felt the extra hour was a neccessity for us today. Again, I've never seen a case like this before."

"Is it that bad, Dr. Davis?" Jeanette asked.

"Toxic," Dr. Davis said, "very toxic. Both of you got into this relationship for the wrong reasons, and as you can see now, everything has come crashing down as a result of those wrong reasons."

Jeanette and Roberta just glanced at each other.

"Now, Jeanette," Dr. Davis continued, "I don't deny or disagree that your intentions were good, and that your heart was in the right place. But don't you think that going out with somebody because you feel sorry for them is a tad juvenile and immature?"

Jeanette shrugged. "I suppose when you think about it, it does seem a little 'highschool'".

"And Roberta," Dr. Davis continued, "given your circumstance, I can understand why you would regard Jeanette so highly, but don't you think putting her on such a high pedastal was something that wasn't grounded in reality?"

"I really don't think I was putting her on such a high pedastal," Roberta said, "I just see her the way I see her."

"Let me put it to you another way," Dr. Davis said, "don't you think you were placing a little too much importance on her?"

"No, I really don't." Roberta said.

Dr. Davis leaned back in her chair, and sighed.

"This is what's causing alot of our problems." Jeanette said.

"I can see that." Dr. Davis said.

"Like I said," Roberta said, "nobody has even shown me the level of compassion and love that Jeanette has."

"Do you feel you have any level of compassion or consideration for Jeanette in return?" Dr. Davis asked.

"Sure," Roberta said, before turning to Jeanette, "don't I do alot of things for you?"

Jeanette nodded, "yes, you do, you cook for me, you support me in my career and other hobbies..."

"Roberta," Dr. Davis interrupted, "do you do these things out of compassion for Jeanette, or do you do them to try to further endear yourself to her?"

Roberta was blindsided by that question, because it opened her eyes to her own ways. "I guess... I do them to try to endear myself to her, yes."

"Here is what the major problem is..." Dr. Davis said, "this is clearly a heavily one-sided relationship, and you let it get to this point because neither of you were willing to do the right thing to repair it."

Jeanette and Roberta glanced at each other again.

"Jeanette," Dr. Davis continued, "you should have never given into Roberta's advances in the first place if you never felt anything stronger than friendship for her, and even when things began to spiral out of hand the way they were, you should have been upfront and honest with Roberta about your feelings."

"I know that, Dr. Davis," Jeanette said, "but I was so afraid of hurting her feelings. I just didn't want to hurt her. I just wanted her to be happy."

"But, I want you to be happy too." Roberta said.

"Do you really, Roberta." Dr. Davis asked.

"Of course!" Roberta said.

"Because the way I see it," Dr. Davis continued, "you should have never tried to resort to these secretive little book guide methods of trying to rekindle a romance that was never there to begin with, let alone become so obsessive to the point of trying to hold your own friend hostage."

Roberta had nothing more to say.

"You know what one of the biggest foundations of a healthy relationship is?" Dr. Davis asked the two of them.

"Trust?" Jeanette asked.

"Honesty?" Roberta asked.

"Communication." Dr. Davis said. "Something that clearly was not a foundation in this relationship, and clearly something neither of you tried to bring into the relationship before it was too late."

"I know your right, Dr. Davis," Jeanette admitted, "I really should have opened up to Roberta about this, it probably would have saved us alot of time and trouble."

Dr. Davis turned to Roberta. "Roberta?"

Roberta nodded reluctantly, "I suppose you have a point..."

"Which is why I clearly see a poisonous and toxic relationship in front of me," Dr. Davis said, "and I honestly believe that the only thing that would mutually benefit the two of you is that you stopped seeing each other as soon as possible."

Jeanette and Roberta exchanged yet another glance.

"I honestly don't believe either of you are mentally or emotionally stable enough to handle a romantic relationship," Dr. Davis said, "let alone a romantic relationship with each other, and especially since this is clearly a one-sided romantic relationship at that."

"So, there's nothing else we can do to save our relationship?" Roberta asked, holding onto one last thread of hope.

Dr. Davis repressed a verbal tounge lashing at Roberta, "do you not see that Jeanette clearly does not love you in the same way that you love her?"

"Yes, I do..." Roberta said.

"If Jeanette wants out, then what is there to save?" Dr. Davis asked.

Roberta sadly sighed. "Nothing."

"Just listening to what both of you have told me from both of your perspectives, not only do I see that there's absolutely no way of saving this relationship, but if it continues at this point, things will not only get worse between the two of you, but the psychological damage for both of you will continue to grow to a point where it maybe too late to reserve it." Dr. Davis said.

"I must admit, I agree with you, Dr. Davis," Jeanette said, "this... this is why I wanted out in the first place."

Dr. Davis turned to Roberta again. "Roberta?"

Roberta let out another sad sigh, "if things are really going to get worse as a result of this... then... then... then I guess... I guess we really should call it quits then."

"I've saved many relationships through-out my career," Dr. Davis said, "but if I see there's a relationship that cannot be saved, I'm not going to build up any false hopes, because nobody deserves to be in a relationship that clearly is not working out."

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Jeanette said.

"Here are my suggestions..." Dr. Davis began, "first things first, I strongly urge you, Jeanette, to go back to living with your sister and get yourself out of Roberta's environment as quickly as possible, because the longer you put it off, the more this will continue to hurt."

Jeanette nodded. "I think that's doable."

"Secondly," Dr. Davis continued, "Roberta, I can see that you have alot of deep-rooted psychological damage already brought on by your childhood, which is why I strongly urge you continue to see a psychiatrist until he or she feels your making some kind of progress."

Roberta nodded. "I think that maybe the help I need."

"Finally," Dr. Davis said, "I believe it would be wise for the two of you to stop seeing each other entirely for awhile. A long while."

Both Jeanette and Roberta felt uneasy about that suggestion.

"Both of you clearly need time to distance yourselves from each other so you can both move on with your lives without each other's influence."

"So... are you saying that in addition to no longer being lovers, we should also no longer be friends either?" Jeanette asked.

Dr. Davis paused for a moment. "Friends go there separate ways sometimes. That's life."

Jeanette and Roberta looked into each other's eyes.

"Unless you want to run the risk of hurting each other again while both of you are still emotionally wounded at the moment," Dr. Davis continued, "I strongly urge that you two go your separate ways."

"You mean we can't see each other ever again?" Roberta asked.

Dr. Davis paused another moment. "Maybe one day in the future... the distant future... but for now, the two of you definitely need to break away from each other entirely."

Jeanette turned to Roberta. "What do you think, Robbie?"

Roberta gulped back a sob. "Well... I'll do anything to make things better for both of us... and, if this is the way things have to be... then... so be it."

"That'll be $2,000," Dr. Davis said, "will the bill be separate?" 


	16. A Door Closes, Another Opens

She's Not That Into You Chapter 18: A Door Closes, Another Opens

As the week drew to a close, both Jeanette and Roberta were feeling anxious, because they both knew come this weekend, Jeanette would finally be moving out and moving on, and by way of that, Roberta would have to be moving on as well. Between the therapy and evaluations that Roberta had been partaking in, she slowly was growing a little more stable, and she was coping with the fact that she and Jeanette had broken up and were going their separate ways, but the she still felt sorrow about the entire situation. Jeanette wasn't exactly easy about the whole idea either. She was partly relieved to finally be out of her romantic relationship with Roberta, but still knowing how sensitive and emotional Roberta is, she was also partly worried about her wellbeing afterwards. The transition had already been underway. Jeanette had stopped sleeping in the same bed with Roberta and had been temporarily sleeping on the sofa, and the physical contact between them had virtually disappeared entirely, all of which were things the couples therapist they were seeing suggested prior to Jeanette's moving out. For quite sometime, coming home from work was a relief for Jeanette, but for the time being, going to work was actually more relaxing for her, as the familarity of her studio confines, and being surrounded by her co-workers brought her a sense of closure, but going home at the end of the day made her feel tense and uneasy. She never knew if Roberta might snap again, but therapy seemed to be helping her a good deal. Finally the weekend came. Just would be moving out Sunday morning, so that Saturday was an incredibly awkward and silent day. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, so Jeanette tried her best to cut it.

"We really managed to decorate this place quite nicely, didn't we?" Jeanette asked.

"Yeah, we sure did." Roberta said softly. "It's going to miss your personal touch."

"Yeah." Jeanette said.

"So will I," Roberta said, "this has always been our place... it's just not going to be the same... I just wish there was a way to keep a little part of you here."

After giving the matter some thought, Jeanette came up with an idea, though she couldn't believe she was actually going to do it. Moments later in the bedroom, Jeanette set up her camera on the tripod at the foot of the bed, she had stripped herself naked, and set the timer on the camera. She climbed onto the bed, sitting on her knees, waiting for the camera to snap the shot, which it did. Jeanette did this repeatedly over the course of a few moments, getting into different poses as she did. One pose had her leaning forward, dangling her tits. Another pose had her slipping her hands into her hair. Another pose had her arching her back, tilting her head back. Another pose had her playing with her nipples. Another pose had her wrapping her arm around her head as she licked her upper arm. After a number of these different kinds of poses, Jeanette redressed herself, pulled the memory card out of the camera, then returned to the livingroom, where Roberta remained on the sofa.

"Here, you can have this." Jeanette said, handing Roberta the memory card.

"What's this?" Roberta asked.

"See for yourself." Jeanette said.

Roberta went over to the computer, inserted the memory card into the slot, and looked through the photos Jeanette shot for her, becoming increasingly excited and aroused as she looked through them. "Oh wow!"

"If you promise not to put any of these on the internet," Jeanette said, "you have my permission to masterbate to those are much as you desire."

"Your all heart." Roberta said with the slightest tone of sarcasm in her voice.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's have a talk, okay?" Jeanette asked.

Roberta sighed, but arose from the computer, and sat on one end of the sofa, while Jeanette sat next to her. Roberta avoided making eye contact, as she folded her hands into her lap, and kept her head lowered, staring at the coffee table and floor.

"Are you going to be alright with me moving out?" Jeanette asked.

Roberta sighed again. "I don't know. We've been together for so long... I don't know if I can handle living alone again."

"This is an adjustment for both of us," Jeanette said, "but we'll both get used to it eventually. All that's really changing between us is we're no longer living together, and we're no longer having sex."

Roberta still only nodded.

"You know this is the way things have to be," Jeanette said, "you know this is the best for both of us."

"Yeah, I know," Roberta said, on the verge of tears, "but I don't like it. It makes me sad."

"There's something better out there for you, Robbie," Jeanette said, "you just have to accept it when it comes along. And trust me, I know you'll make somebody very happy, because I know you have alot to offer. Your beautiful, your considerate, you always put others ahead of yourself, and you have amazing sex. Any girl would be lucky to have you."

Roberta slowly shook her head. "I'll feel like I'm cheating on you."

"But we're not in a romantic or sexual relationship anymore, Roberta," Jeanette pressed, "so you won't be at all."

Roberta continued shaking her head. "I don't know..."

"Look," Jeanette continued, "if you won't do this for yourself... then do it for me."

Roberta snapped her head, looking at Jeanette with confusion over her face.

"Do this for me," Jeanette said, "because I want to see you happy, and seeing you happy would bring me more happiness than you can possibly imagine."

Roberta didn't know what to say.

"You always want to do things for me," Jeanette said, "well, this is something you can do for me."

Roberta sighed. "It's not going to be easy."

"Life never is easy, Roberta," Jeanette said, "and I know you've had a hard life as long as you can remember. But there's a better life for you out there, and you have to open yourself up to what it has to offer."

Roberta nodded. "Okay. If you say so, then I'll give it a try."

"Good!" Jeanette squealed, as she through her arms around Roberta and hugged her.

Roberta reluctantly returned the gesture, but when they broke away. "Jeanette?"

"Yes?" Jeanette asked.

"Look..." Roberta began. "Before we 'offically' call it quits... for old times sake... can't we do it just one more time?"

"Now Roberta..." Jeanette said, sounding frustrated, "I just shot all of those pictures for you and your own pleasure, try to meet me halfway here!"

"I know that, and your right," Roberta said, "but I'll be able to do that anytime whenever I want... I just... wanted to enjoy the real thing, just one last time... just one more for the road..."

Jeanette silently sighed through her nose, but nodded reluctantly. "Alright. One last time."

Roberta smiled, and even a tear rolled down her cheek. Jeanette took notice of this, then slowly revealed a small smile herself.

"In fact..." Jeanette began, as she reached over, and began caressing Roberta's face with the back of her finger, "I'll see what I can do about making it last..."

Roberta smiled even more. Shortly thereafter, the two chipettes were back in the bedroom, scissoring each other ontop of the bed. This time, because Roberta didn't have any tension bottled up inside, she wasn't as rough and frustrated as she was the last time they tried sleeping together. Moments after that, Roberta laid on her back as Jeanette rode atop her, Roberta squeezed Jeanette's round ass as she thrusted slow and steady, causing both girls to moan in pleasure. Within a matter of minutes, both girls cummed. Roberta loved the slippery feeling between there vaginas that she had been missing for so longer, though she was a little disappointed, as the session seemed to last so quickly.

"I don't know about you," Jeanette said inbetween breaths, "but I don't think I'm quite done just yet..."

Roberta smiled again. Jeanette figured she'd make the best of it. As long as it had been, she had forgotten how great Roberta was in bed. The two switched positions, and this time, Roberta rode Jeanette. Having been so long since seeing the sight, Jeanette found herself mesmerised by Roberta's naturally large tits bouncing around as she thrusted atop her. Likewise, Roberta thrusted slow and steady, and both girls continued to moan in pleasure, but just as before, they both cummed quickly, as Roberta girated her pelvis ontop of Jeanette to increase the slippery sensation between their vaginas, which gave Jeanette goosebumps. They both sighed and panted, as they looked each other in the eye.

"Let's go all out." Jeanette said inbetween her breaths.

After that, Jeanette sat at the edge of the bed, her legs spread far apart as Roberta ate out of her. Jeanette ran her fingers through Roberta's hair as Roberta licked up as much of Jeanette's fluids as she could. After that, Roberta laid on her back, as Jeanette parted her knees, began kissing down her thighs, and likewise began eating out of Roberta, who also ran her fingers through Jeanette's hair. Jeanette then slowly started kissing her Roberta's tummy, until reaching her soft, large breasts, to which Jeanette quickly took one of Roberta's nipples into her mouth, licking it, sucking on it, nibblings on it, and tugging on it, until it became hard and erect. Jeanette then moved upward more as she and Roberta swapped spit for a moment. Roberta flipped a little bit of Jeanette's hair between there mouths as they continued to swap spit, the two of them even sucking on her hair momentarily. After that, both girls began to 69. Roberta in particular would occasionally spank Jeanette's ass or thighs as she gobbled up the fluids shooting out of her vagina, while Jeanette also slurped up Roberta's fluids as quickly as she could, as both girls shot generous amounts of cum into each other's mouths. Jeanette was determined to keep her word in making it last. The two continued their sexual activities for over three hours. The bed was covered in sploches of cum as the two chipettes laid next to each other, both breathing very loudly and very heavily. Roberta turned to Jeanette.

"We haven't lasted that long in years..." Roberta said inbetween her breaths.

"Eight times in a row..." Jeanette said inbetween her breaths, "I think that's a new record for us."

"Yeah, the old one was three!" Roberta panted.

"I must confess, I forgot how great you are in bed," Jeanette panted, "your bound to make some lucky girl happy."

"Only if she's as good as you," Roberta panted, before reaching down, wetting her fingers inside Jeanette's opening, then licking them off. "Finger licking good."

The two held hands for awhile as they laid next to each other one last time. The next morning, they stood by the front door before Jeanette prepared to offically move out for the last time.

"Will you be alright?" Roberta asked.

"Yeah," Jeanette said, "Eleanor will let me stay with her while I try to find a new place for myself, and hopefully if I can continue to bring in more sizeable paychecks, I might be able to find a decent little place for myself."

Roberta was a little more stable now than she was before, but she clearly was still really emotional about the entire situation. "This place sure won't be the same without you... it'll be so empty and lonely..."

Jeanette took Roberta's hands into her own, and looked her in the eye. "Roberta?"

"Yeah?" Roberta asked.

"I don't care what Dr. Davis said," Jeanette said, "but I won't disappear from your life completely. We'll stay in touch, and we'll still visit each other. I'll always be there for you, you know that."

Roberta nodded, fighting back tears. "I still wish it didn't have to be this way... but I guess it's for the best."

"I love you, Robbie," Jeanette said, "your the best friend I've ever had. I'm so happy you came into my life."

Roberta couldn't fight back the tears any longer. She completely broke down as Jeanette brought her into her arms.

"It's not the end of it all," Jeanette reassured her, "we'll always be the best of friends. Nothing can ever change that, not even a therapist."

Roberta pulled away from Jeanette, wiping the tears from her eyes, and sniffing back really loudly.

"But just know that other people out there do care for you, and other friends, and potentially a new lover, will come into your lives if you let them." Jeanette said.

Roberta nodded. "If you say so."

Jeanette placed her hands on Roberta's face, looking her in the eye one last time. "I'll see you around sometime. Okay?"

Roberta nodded again. "Okay. Thanks for everything that you've ever done for me. Nobody's ever done so much for me."

"I'll always do whatever I can for you." Jeanette said. She gave Roberta one last kiss goodbye, before stepping out the door, into her car, and driving off, all the while Roberta waved to her from the doorway, until she was out of sight.

Later that afternoon, Jeanette crashed at Eleanor's apartment, where the younger chipette was delighted to finally see her sister out of her present situation.

"I'm so glad this is finally all over!" Eleanor said, as she took a seat on the sofa next to her sister.

"It's not really all over," Jeanette said, before looking Eleanor in the eye, "it's pretty much just a new beginning for both of us."

The end.


	17. Chapter 17

How come nobody reads fan fiction stories anymore? 


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